Maritime Safety & Engineering
Our Maritime Safety & Engineering Services
AACE provides comprehensive services in the maritime domain, integrating safety engineering, legislative and regulatory compliance, certification management and environmental support to meet the complex requirements of MOD and Defence Industry.
By combining technical expertise with regulatory knowledge, AACE delivers trusted solutions across diverse maritime systems, from submarines to surface ships, autonomous systems and novel technologies.
Safety Engineering:
Our team performs comprehensive hazard and risk analysis, delivering robust safety cases aligned with the Project Oriented Safety Management System (POSMS), Defence Standard 00-056, DSA02-DMR and BS EN 61508 (Functional Safety). We specialise in supporting high-hazard systems, including complex submarine platforms, ensuring compliance with UK statute and Defence Standards to deliver safety throughout the product, system and service lifecycle.
Legislative and Regulatory Compliance Support:
AACE provides customers with legislative and regulatory compliance solutions from developing and implementing compliance management systems through to undertaking conformity assessments of equipment, systems and platforms to ensure organisations are able to satisfy UK statute and Defence Regulation obligations.
Certification Management:
AACE supports the management of certification of MOD Shipping to ensure platforms achieve recognised safety standards including DSA03-DMR (Naval Authority Rules) and, where applicable, ensure appropriate mitigations are in place for identified risks. Our team authors, reviews and maintains required documentation that ensures this independent third party assurance for platforms is completed to reduce risk to life to As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP).
Environmental Support:
Our team provides Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Environmental Management System (EMS) support aligned with the Project Oriented Environmental Management System (POEMS), Defence Standard 00-051 and ISO14001:2015. Our approach integrates wide ranging sustainability activities throughout the product, system and service lifecycle and across the wider supply chain to promote Defence net-zero targets and overarching sustainability goals.
Independent Safety and Environmental Auditors (ISEA):
AACE conducts independent safety and environmental audits and assurance activities to verify regulatory compliance and enhance the safety and environmental integrity of platforms, systems and services across Defence projects.
Customer Feedback
Our Work
Submarine Dive Control Functional Safety
AACE supported the integration of a critical dive control system on a submarine by delivering SIL 2-compliant safety documentation.
Through robust analysis and close stakeholder engagement, we enabled successful certification, ensuring system safety, platform compatibility, and timely delivery under complex functional assurance requirements.
Submarine Combat Systems SEMS Support
AACE established a compliant Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS) for submarine combat systems facing major capability and resourcing gaps.
By reviewing existing evidence and applying ASEMS principles, we enabled regulatory alignment and supported sustained compliance for platform-level assurance.
Surface Ship Combat System ILS Support
AACE managed the ILS programme for a surface ship combat system upgrade, enabling safe and supportable entry into service.
Through stakeholder engagement and logistics planning, we achieved LSD, training readiness, and IOC for the upgraded platform under tight delivery timescales.
Carrier Group Tactical Link Upgrade
We delivered ILS integration for a tactical link upgrade across multiple platforms in the carrier group.
AACE’s hybrid support solution and governance ensured rapid deployment, improved operational data sharing, and compliance with MOD standards during a high-profile programme.
Submarine SEMS Development
AACE designed and delivered a central SEMS framework for submarine delivery teams as part of a regulatory simplification drive.
Our documentation enabled compliance, lifted improvement notices, and has since been adopted across multiple MOD organisations.
Submarine Legislation Compliance Mapping
We mapped complex legislation compliance for a nuclear submarine programme by reviewing platform requirements against DLST structures.
AACE’s framework clarified responsibilities, facilitated build-phase assurance, and helped embed compliance early in the transition to in-service operations.
Naval Certification Process Update
AACE restructured MOD naval certification guidance, transforming the policy into a clearer, more usable four-part system.
Our documentation incorporated all updates and ensured alignment with Naval Authority rules, improving stakeholder usability and reducing administrative burden.
Primary Steels Technical Lead
AACE provided primary engineering support for material analysis for a submarine programme.
We planned steel testing and engaged stakeholders to validate CONCAST methods, aligning timelines and expectations for future qualification of foreign produced pressure hull steel.
