Below-Deck Liquid Hydrogen Tanks — the Technology BV Is Betting On

The Hardest Version of the Hydrogen Problem

Bureau Veritas has joined NavHyS, a European research project funded by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, bringing together 14 partners across Europe with the shared goal of decarbonising shipping through hydrogen. BV, working with ArianeGroup, helped develop the project's proposal and consortium structure, contributing its expertise in safety, rule development, and classification.

Why Below-Deck Matters

NavHyS focuses specifically on one of the technically hardest aspects of hydrogen deployment at sea: below-deck Type C liquid hydrogen (LH₂) tanks used as fuel for service operation vessels (SOVs). Above-deck hydrogen storage is comparatively straightforward from a safety-engineering standpoint — ventilation and leak dispersal are simpler to manage in open air. Below-deck storage is where the genuinely hard classification and safety questions live, and it's exactly where BV has chosen to focus its regulatory collaboration effort.

What This Means for Crews Operating Alternative-Fuel Vessels

• Hydrogen-fuelled vessels, particularly with below-deck LH₂ storage, will carry safety systems and procedures genuinely different from LNG or conventional fuel — don't assume existing gas-carrier knowledge transfers directly
• Class involvement this early in a technology's development, through projects like NavHyS, means the rules crews will eventually operate under are still being shaped — worth watching as they develop, not just adopting once finalised
• Service operation vessels (SOVs) in offshore wind are the near-term application — relevant now if you work in that sector

Related Reading

• Wind Propulsion Gets Its Own Rulebook — another emerging technology class is actively shaping