Software rank question

Hi all

I'm a user of Maxsurf because it ranked first in "Best Marine Design Software" and have function of modeling and caculation.
But it isn't be approved from major Class. Societies such as:
a. ABS
b. DNV
c. LRS
d. BV
e. IRS
f. GL
e. NKK
f. RINA
Althought Some software which have the same function or more and be approved from major Class. Societies , eg. autoship, but ranked lower, so i feel puzzled.
Please explain above

Thank you

 

Class societies are usually only interested in structure, machinery and safety drawings so they dont care what they were drawn in, eg they dont care if drawn in Autocad or Rhino or whatever, they just check the sizes etc for rule compliance.

For stability you should use something reputable - such as Hydromax - but the class societies will do their own independent checks anyway. So it doesnt matter if its class approved software or not, so long as its accurate.

You should be more concerned about what software is the easiest to use and the most cost effective for your needs. And for stability it helps if the software comes with built in criteria cases. The Maxsurf suite has something for everyones budget and is very easy to learn and use, which is probably why it polls so well.

 

I seem to recall some discussion on this issue a few years ago.

If I remember correctly, what we found was that where class society "approval" was granted to a software product, such as Autoship, it was granted for the loading and cargo management version of the software as an on-board tool. The software in which the ship was designed didn't factor into it. Certain companies made a fuss over making "Lloyds & ABS approved" software, when really that approval only had any meaning for the onboard loading/stability software and not for the design office version.

This may have changed in the last few years though.

 

Thank above