Safety requirements for Wing-In-Ground (WIG) craft

Wing-In-Ground (WIG) craft is a high speed craft that utilizes ground effect between its wing and sea surface to fly efficiently. In 1960's, Soviet Union firstly developed the world's first WIG craft for military purpose. Because, in principle, WIG effect gives more lift and less drag to the craft, it consumes less fuel than any other high speed crafts including hydro-foil while not requiring expensive infrastructure such as airport. With these advantages, WIG craft is drawing attention as an alternative for current commercial high speed craft in this era of high oil price. For commercial use of any vessels, safety of the vessel is to be secured from its design to operation. Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of International Maritime Organization (IMO) endorsed Interim Guidelines for WIG Craft, MSC/Circ. 1154, as the top level safety requirement for design and construction of safe WIG craft. MSC/Circ. 1162, General Principles and Recommendations for Knowledge, Skills and Training for Officers on WIG Craft Operating in Both Displacement and Ground Effect Modes, was endorsed as well for the safe operation of WIG craft. In this paper, safety requirements of WIG craft including current international regulatory requirements and classification requirements are presented and analyzed to figure out the current safety level of WIG craft along with hazard identification (HAZID) for WIG craft.