ClassNK Earns Authorisation from German Flag

Classification society ClassNK has announced it has earned authorisation from Germany’s BG Verkehr to carry out surveys on behalf of the German Government, and will be further expanding its operations in the leading ship owning nation.

The announcement was made during a reception to commemorate the authorisation at the prestigious Hafen-Klub. As the notified body for German flagged vessels under the EU Maritime Equipment Directive (MED 96/98/EC), BG Verkehr oversees all aspects of the German flag, including determining which classification societies can act on its behalf.

The highlight of the reception, which drew more than 60 representatives from the German maritime community, was a presentation ceremony which saw Mr Kai Krüger, speaking on behalf of Mr Ulrich Schmidt, Head BG Verkehr’s Ship Safety Division presenting an official certificate of authorisation from BG Verkehr to ClassNK Chairman and President Noboru Ueda. The authorisation allows ClassNK to carry out a full range of surveys for the international conventions for all German flagged vessels.

Mr Ueda thanked BG Verkehr and the entire German maritime community for its support, saying: “This recognition is an important step forward in our ongoing expansion here in Germany. We are deeply honoured to be able to serve on behalf of the German flag administration, and will dedicate our full resources to supporting the needs of the German maritime community in the days and years to come.”

Since reorganising its operations in 2011 and placing top survey experts on call in ClassNK’s Hamburg Office, German owners have transferred roughly 50 vessels totalling 1.5 million gross tons to the ClassNK register. Transfers from German owners further accounted for roughly one fifth of all vessels transferred to ClassNK in 2012, helping the class society set a new record for vessel registrations of more than 25 million gross tons in a single year.

In addition to speeches from Mr Ueda and Mr Krüger, Dr Hermann J Klein, CEO of Germany’s Blue Star Holding and E R Schiffahrt, also took the podium to toast ClassNK’s authorisation and to congratulate NK on the authorisation and incredible growth.

In addition to the authorisation announcement, ClassNK also announced it would be further expanding its human resources and operations in Hamburg in order to better serve German ship owners. ClassNK had promoted Dr Sergej Dalberg to serve as the new General Manager of ClassNK’s Hamburg Operations and doubled the number of expert staff in ClassNK’s Survey Department in Hamburg in order to further support ClassNK’s growing operations in the region.