The story
In Russia the first acts of state technical supervision date back to the beginning of the 18th century - the time of the intensive development of the Russian fleet. By the end of the century the Charter of Merchant Shipping had been approved regulating mandatory state registration of ships and documentation on the technical condition of a vessel. At that time, ships were classed by type and age, therefore there emerged a necessity in a more advanced system that would take into account structural features, strength, technical condition and navigation area.
As soon as the end of the 19th century the first classification body was established. In 1899 the first classification rules emerged. On 31 December 1913, the charter of the classification society "Russian Register" was approved. The society was renamed several times due to the historical reasons: Russian Register, the USSR Register of Shipping, Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.
The proper technical condition of the fleet is to be provided by highly qualified staff and regular scientific research. Since 1914 the research and development activities have been coordinated by the Scientific and Technical Council. RMRS has always been using the latest scientific and technical achievements. The USSR Register of Shipping was the first society to develop requirements for Arctic ships. The society's rules for electric welding proved the possibility of implementation of this new technology during the construction and repair of ships. Since the 1950s the USSR Register of Shipping has become the only classification society in the world to have nuclear ships in its class.
Russian Maritime Register of Shipping is the legal successor of the USSR Register of Shipping.
From Wikipedia’s article on Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4