ClassNK’s Chairman, Noboru Ueda promises to work closely with marine partners in India in order to provide greater vibrancy to the maritime sector
As ClassNK celebrates its 110th anniversary, Noboru Ueda, it’s Chairman and President who is set to take over the Chairmanship of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) in July this year has firmed up a robust agenda with the aim of bringing in greater vitality in the two organizations.
Till recently, Mr. Ueda was the Chairman of the Asian Classification Societies (ACS) which has six members on its register including IRS. He revealed about being set on enhancing ClassNK’s presence in India dramatically, developing the first ballast-less ship, whose design ClassNK has already finalized, and above all assist the shipping community in reducing emissions and greenhouse gases, as well as implement new technologies like fuel cells and solar power onboard ships.
“When I entered the company in 1969, NK had classed just under 30 million gross tons of ships, mostly Japanese-flagged vessels,” he said. “Today we have exceeded 170 million gross tons with more than 93% of this tonnage flagged internationally.
“We are committed to work in partnership with our marine partners in India as we have been doing with Cochin University of Science and Technology, India Institute of Technology, Chennai, ABG Shipyard, etc., to introduce effective and innovative solutions for enhancing ship safety, protection of the marine environment and the development of recommended practices in the ship recycling processes. We have provided IRS expert training on the use of our recently developed PrimeShip-INVENTORY software designed to help reduce the burden associated with the management of hazardous materials used onboard new ships and thereby improve the efficiency of ship recycling. We are also currently in the process of cooperating with IRS in opening up a joint office in the United States this year.”
The reason for the dramatic growth of ClassNK, to become the world’s largest class society on gross tonnage basis is because the company’s dedication to providing quality service and committed to working closely with our clients to meet their various classification, audit, and certification needs. Besides, ClassNK also carries out, both independently and in cooperation with industry, extensive research and development projects on a broad range of topics aimed at finding effective solutions for realizing a safer and greener maritime industry.