ClassNK Registers More Than 20 Million Gross Tons in 2013

ClassNK has announced its official registration figures for 2013, revealing that new registrations of existing and newly built vessels totaled more than 20 million gross tons. The announcement was made on 20 January 2014 following a meeting of the ClassNK Classification Committee, which reviews and certifies all changes made to the ClassNK register.

Figures released by the Committee show that a total of 859 vessels totaling more than 20.5 million gross tons were added to the ClassNK register in 2013, marking the third straight year that ClassNK has registered an annual total of more than 20 million gross tons. This caps more than a decade of incredible growth by the society, which has seen the ClassNK register grow by more than 100 million gross tons since 2003.

While newbuildings made up the majority of new registrations in 2013, accounting for 588 ships totaling more than 15.3 million gross tons, transfers of vessels from other classification societies continued to represent a major source of growth for ClassNK.

Driven by ClassNK’s growth in Europe in particular, transfers from other class societies grew to account for nearly 33% of vessels and more than 25% of all tonnage registered by ClassNK in 2013, both new records for the society.

Commenting on the announcement, ClassNK Chairman and President Noboru Ueda stated: “Our continued success in 2013 reflects the growing recognition of our service and quality not only by partners and stakeholders in Japan or Asia; but increasingly by owners and operators around the world. With the newbuilding boom behind us, we will continue to rededicate ourselves to providing the highest level of service and support to all of our clients and partners throughout the industry to secure our place as the most trusted, respected, and relied upon classification society around the world.”