International certification, verification and ship classification company RINA is celebrating its ties with China on its 150th anniversary. It also took the opportunity to celebrate the ties between Italy and China on the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification.
Formed in Genoa, Italy, in 1861 as a ship classification society, RINA is today a global multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural company with growing business in China and the surrounding region. Today in Shanghai RINA CEO Ugo Salerno and Vincenzo De Luca, Consul General of Italy in Shanghai, hosted Italian business leaders and diplomats, representatives of the Chinese government, regional government, maritime authorities and business leaders from all sectors including the Italian Private Shipowners Association and its President Paolo D’Amico for a discussion and gala dinner.
The cultural and business ties between RINA, Italy and China were illustrated by a series of presentations by leading Chinese shipyards, Italian shipowners and banks from both countries. There was lively and fruitful discussion on ways for the Italian and Chinese shipping industries to strengthen collaboration, and ways for banks from both countries to work together and promote further international investment.
Speaking at a reception to mark the event held at the Grand Hyatt hotel, Shanghai, Ugo Salerno, CEO, RINA, said, “We are very happy to be here in China today, celebrating both our growing relationships with Chinese partners and our 150 years of experience and tradition. We share the goals of our partners here, working to build a sound resilient business, respecting people, community and environment. We provide experience and competency to support industry and society to improve their activities and the quality of life.
“We are active in every area of industry, transportation and environmental protection, and we reach out globally to help companies which are also globalising, as so many of you are here in China. We help by bridging the gap in competency for newcomers to the global market place to boost their competitive capacity on the global market.”
In China RINA is happy to work with some very forward looking companies and authorities including for example Baosteel, shipyards of CSSC and CSIC Groups, Hollysys, Jimei Hua Shipping, New Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, New Time, STX Dalian, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, Tuofu Ocean Shipping and MSC Hong Kong. RINA today works in a multi-disciplinary way to service a wide range of industries. RINA is now a well-known certification body in China having certified over 300 Chinese companies in accordance with international certification schemes such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, SA 8000, ISO 27001 and several code of conduct standards.
Marine
Maritime classification continues to be the backbone of RINA’s global activities. Last year the classed fleet grew strongly by twenty per cent and at the end of June 2011 the RINA classed fleet was 4,250 ships totalling 32.6m gt. The growth came from newbuildings joining the fleet and from foreign owners, in particular Chinese and Greek choosing to transfer modern ships into RINA class. The current fleet is now well diversified with a strong presence in each sector - bulk, dry cargo, tanker, passenger, warships and service craft - and an increasingly global distribution of owners. The lower average age of the fleet, strengthened support services for owners and a relentless focus on quality paid off as the Paris MOU rated RINA the best performing Recognised Organisation and leading classification society in 2010 based on port state control results.
RINA’s marine business in China has expanded dramatically together with the local shipping community and shipyards. RINA’s classed Chinese fleet has grown to more than 120 ships, and RINA has over 40 new building projects in China, totalling over 4 million gt. Many of China’s emerging shipowners are turning to RINA for support, including Jimei Hua Shipping and Tuofu Ocean Shipping, both having several vessels classed with RINA, and each also having kansarmax bulk carriers newbuilding with RINA class. RINA is classing ships building at leading Chinese shipbuilding groups CSSC, CSIC, New Yangzijiang, New Time, STX Dalian and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, including a 300,000 dwt ore carrier and a 206,000 dwt bulk carrier. Very recent deliveries in China include the first of a series of specially designed self-unloading supramax bulk carriers built at Hantong Shipyard for Coeclerici, the sixth of twenty-nine 93,500 dwt bulk carriers being built by New Jiangsu Yangzijiang shipyard for Giuseppe Bottiglieri and the first of a series of minicape bulkers to be built at Sinopacific for SNUG.RINA is also very active in conversions from tanker to bulker and container carrier to general cargo. RINA has successfully converted more than 30 vessels in the last three years in China, in sizes from 20,000 dwt to 270,000 dwt.
Oil, gas and power generation
RINA has a strong focus on energy. RINA works with leading companies at every stage of the energy chain - generating energy, harnessing it from the oceans and elements, transporting it, measuring it and conserving it. RINA is working in all fields of power generation, including clean coal and nuclear, and renewable energy activities are increasing. In China, qualification with the authorities and leading contractors led to major contracts for the certification of offshore platforms and for supervision of the construction of an OSV. A major area of work is supplier qualification for international groups such as ENI and Ansalado Energia. In China CNOOC, Bao Steel and Liaoning Large-scale Steel Pipe are some of the companies RINA has worked with. In the renewable energy sector RINA is working with a number of companies, especially those involved in photovoltaic panel manufacture. These include Suntech Power, CEEG (Shanghai) Solar Energy S&T, Shanghai ST-Solar and Upsolar.
Products, personnel, services and processes
Quality management certification is a core business for RINA and, in 2010, more than half of certification was outside Italy. Social Accountability is growing and RINA is now the leader in Europe and second globally in this field. Globally RINA certifies more than 1,500 companies each year including many industry leaders in China such as Baosteel, Asian Star Anchor Chain, Hudong Heavy Machinery and Jiangyin Beihai LSA.
Transport and logistics
RINA’s services to transport are growing and RINA recently entered the aerospace sector for the first time and developed its own railway signalling and onboard equipment testing laboratory. It is a European leader in railway certification and is working with railway equipment manufacturers around the world. Chinese manufacturer Hollysys turned to RINA for conformity tests on antenna/BTM components of the European command and signalling system ETCS.
Climate change services
RINA provides a range of high-quality services in the climate change area. As a DOE accredited by UNFCCC, RINA has participated in over 300 greenhouse gas projects around the world. Climate change clients in Asia include the World Bank, Asia Development Bank, Toyota and China National Petroleum Corporation. Globally RINA has worked with majors that include Tricorona, Vitol, Arcadia, Bionersis, Orbeo, EDF, Enel, Eni, and Marubeni delivering environmental mitigation services covering the fields of energy, chemical, manufacturing, construction, transport, agriculture, forestry, waste handling and coal mining. RINA also provides social carbon audits, GHG inventory and carbon footprint services including verification of annual reports for the aviation sector.
RINA globally
Group turnover is Euro 205m, and RINA employs 1,438 qualified staff. Those staff now represents forty-six different nationalities, and over 60 per cent are graduates. They are close to their clients, in 120 offices in 42 countries, including several new countries during 2010. The first China office was opened in late 1997 and RINA currently employs 120 staff in China in the Shanghai head office and ten regional offices. RINA’s Shanghai office is now the largest RINA office outside its main office in Italy. In China there is a dedicated plan approval centre, and ten surveyor stations in key locations. There are plans to expand.
RINA is one of the oldest classification societies and certification companies in the world. Established in Genoa in 1861 to serve the marine industry, today it spans the globe as a multinational and multi-faceted company, sharing its knowledge and experience through a wide range of services which help industries and the community to improve their businesses and quality of life. RINA’s services cover climate change, environment, energy, transportation, logistics, safety, quality and social responsibility. www.rina.org
