DNV Standards for Offshore Lifting
DNV publishes the technical standards that govern most offshore lifting equipment outside the US Gulf. Five DNV documents do most of the work for crane and heave-compensator certification. This page covers each, the rename history (DNV reorganised its standards twice between 2013 and 2020), and how they apply when procuring or operating compensated lifting systems.
Practical application: For practical application of this topic, see product / system design and engineering studies and analysis.
In this article
DNV-ST-0378 — Offshore and Platform Lifting Appliances
Scope. Design, manufacture, type approval, testing and certification of offshore and platform lifting appliances — pedestal cranes, knuckle-boom cranes, A-frames, gantries, derricks and integral lifting accessories. Applies to permanently installed equipment on fixed and floating offshore units.
Rename history. DNV-ST-0378 replaced the long-standing DNV Standard for Certification 2.22 — Lifting Appliances in 2014. Operators still reference “DNV 2.22”; for new equipment the applicable document is DNV-ST-0378.
How it applies to heave compensators. A compensator integral to the crane (in-crane AHC, integrated PHC) is certified under ST-0378 as part of the crane assembly. Stand-alone passive compensators deployed below the hook are certified as lifting accessories under ST-0378 or as separately type-approved lifting appliances. Either route requires:
- Design verification — FEA, fatigue analysis, load-case assessment to ST-0378 limit states
- Material certification — EN 10204 3.1 or 3.2 for structural and pressure-containing components
- NDT — magnetic particle, ultrasonic and/or radiographic testing of critical welds
- Witnessed FAT and proof-load test — typically 1.5× SWL
For a fuller treatment of how DAF feeds into the crane load-chart calculation under ST-0378, see Crane Load Chart.
DNV-ST-N001 — Marine Operations and Marine Warranty
Scope. Planning, execution and warranty of marine operations including offshore lifts, transports, mating and decommissioning. Defines dynamic amplification factors, friction factors, snap-load criteria, environmental limits, alpha factors and operational reference periods.
Rename history. DNV-ST-N001, issued in 2020, consolidated:
- DNV-OS-H101 — Marine operations, general
- DNV-OS-H205 — Lifting operations
- DNV-OS-H206 — Loadout
When operators reference “DNV-OS-H205” today they almost always mean the lifting-operations clauses now inside ST-N001 Section 5.
Why it matters for compensated lifts.
- Section 5 sets the floor on dynamic load factors for offshore lifts — values below 1.3 are generally not permitted regardless of analysis
- Defines the alpha-factor weather-forecasting approach (typically 3× the planned operation duration)
- Marine warranty surveyors reference ST-N001 when approving lifting procedures
How DAF is calculated in practice and how a compensator reduces it is covered in Dynamic Amplification Factor (DAF). The economic effect of wider operational Hs is covered in Weather Windows for Offshore Lifting.
DNV-RP-N103 — Modelling and Analysis of Marine Operations
Scope. The technical reference for hydrodynamic analysis of marine operations: drag coefficients, added-mass coefficients, slamming, splash-zone forces, snap-load analysis. Underpins the design calculations required by ST-N001.
Why it matters for heave compensation. The drag and added-mass coefficient tables in RP-N103 are how engineers calculate the underwater forces a compensator must absorb. Drag varies with the square of velocity, added mass with acceleration, and a well-tuned PHC decouples both from the crane.
Coefficient tables and worked examples are in Subsea Lifts; the PHC efficiency derivation that consumes them is in Passive Heave Compensation Basics.
DNV-RP-N202 — Subsea Lifting
Scope. Recommended practice for design and analysis of subsea lifts — pre-deployment, splash-zone crossing, free-hanging and landing. Sister document to ST-N001 with a subsea focus.
Why it matters. Crane load-chart derating for subsea lifts follows RP-N202 methodology. The standard recognises that compensated lifts have lower DAF and accept a wider operating range than uncompensated lifts of the same payload.
How heave compensators are certified
Typical certification scope for a Norwegian Dynamics RIGEL or ANTARES compensator:
- Design certification to DNV-ST-0378 — analysis package, FEA, fatigue
- Material certification to EN 10204 3.1 or 3.2 — full traceability
- NDT to ST-0378 acceptance criteria — MT, UT and/or RT on critical welds
- Witnessed FAT — function tests against lifecycle stroke and pressure profile
- Proof-load test at 1.5× SWL with classification surveyor present
- DNV product certificate or DNV Type Approval
Type Approval simplifies project certification because the design package is pre-accepted. RIGEL holds DNV Type Approval; ANTARES is a project-certified design.
Operators choosing between compensator architectures will find the trade-offs in Heave Compensator Selection.
Adjacent standards
- NORSOK R-002 — Lifting equipment, used alongside DNV rules on the Norwegian Continental Shelf
- API 2C / API RP 2D — US Gulf equivalents for offshore pedestal cranes
- EN 13852 — Cranes — offshore cranes (Parts 1, 2 and 3)
- IMO SOLAS Chapter VI — Cargo handling on board vessels (amendments effective January 2026)
Related on Norwegian Dynamics
- DNV-ST-0378 Explained — Offshore lifting appliances; replaced DNV 2.22 in 2014.
- DNV-ST-N001 Explained — Marine operations and warranty; consolidated OS-H205, OS-H101, OS-H206 in 2020.
- DNV-RP-N103 Explained — Hydrodynamic modelling for marine operations; the reference for compensator sizing.
- Crane Load Chart — How DAF feeds into the load-chart calculation under ST-0378.
- Dynamic Amplification Factor (DAF) — Formula and worked example for the dynamic loads ST-N001 makes you design against.
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