ClassNK Technical Information No. TEC 1359 (issued on 8 August 2025) and No. TEC-1361 (issued on 1 September 2025) each contain information about requirements for lifting appliances and anchor handling winches being incorporated into Regulation II-1/3-13 of SOLAS.
Since 3-13 applies to existing vessels, this Technical Information is being sent out as a reminder to all concerned parties of the detailed applicability conditions and required actions.

1. Application and class notation / installation character
In the past, ClassNK has affixed the class notation "Anchor Handling Vessel (abbreviated as AHV)" to the classification characters of anchor handling vessels (i.e. vessels engaged in the installation, moving and taking up of the mooring anchors of mobile offshore drilling units, dredgers and other similar work ships) in accordance with Chapter 8, Part O of its Rules for the Survey and Construction of Steel Ships based on the applications it received. The requirements of the this SOLAS amendment are mandatory for anchor handling winches whose intended purpose is the deploying, recovering and repositioning anchors and mooring lines in subsea operations that are installed on all vessels of 500 gross tonnage and above engaged in international voyages.
ClassNK stipulates relevant requirements for such winches in Part 2 of its Rules for Lifting Appliances and Anchor Handling Winches, and vessels to which these requirements apply are to be affixed with the installation character "Anchor Handling Winch (abbreviated as AHW)".
Accordingly, the treatment of the class notation and the installation character for vessels to which these requirements apply is as follows.
(1) Anchor handling vessels (with class notation "AHV")
Affix the installation character "AHW"
(2) Anchor handling vessels (without*1 class notation "AHV")
Affix the class notation "AHV" and the installation character "AHW"
*1 Since the class notation "AHV" had not been a mandatory requirement, there m