IEC 60721-3-6:2025 classifies the groups of environmental parameters and their severities to which a product is subjected when installed aboard a ship.
Ships where electrotechnical products may be permanently or temporarily installed include
- ships propelled by mechanical means, including mobile offshore units, and
- ships not propelled by mechanical means, including sailing boats and life rafts.
The classes defined apply to all sizes of ship from pleasure craft to trawlers, ferry boats, icebreakers, cargo ships including tankers.
The areas in which ships normally navigate are
- inland waterways (canals, rivers, lakes etc.),
- coastal waters, and
- oceans.
Areas where ships navigate in ice are also included.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition, published in 1987, and constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant changes with respect to the previous edition:
a) most classes have been replaced by completely new classes based on the use of new information obtained from referenced Technical Reports;
b) Table 1 through to Table 5 have been updated;
c) the content of Annex A and Annex B has either been incorporated into main body text or deleted.
