Despite a difficult maritime environment, [ds_preview]Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) has seen an increase of tonnage under its class by over 1 mill. GT to 11.9 mill. GT during the calendar year 2016, of which almost half of the tonnage added were foreign flagged vessels.
The company is confident that this number will continue to grow in 2017 as it continues to expand: »Most organisations continue to struggle in this current downturn, and many in the industry are bracing themselves for another challenging year ahead. But what goes down must come up and if we see this as a way of the market correcting itself – weeding out the less efficient and less competitive players to encourage consolidation and improve current practices – then we must believe that the market is going through this necessary change to become stronger to successfully ride the next wave of change,« it was said.
IRClass believes that the industry can overcome these difficult times: »As we take this time to restructure and build up our capabilities, we believe that we will emerge from these difficult times stronger than before.«
EU recognizes IRClass
On 1st August 2016, the European Commission adopted a decision granting recognition to IRClass in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 391/2009 of the European Parliament. With this, IRClass joins the group of classification societies recognized by the EU, and this approval paves the way for IRClass to access the significant European market.
The number of flag states which have approved IRClass as a Recognised Organisation also grew from 26 to 29 during this period marking the growing acceptance of IRClass globally.
Ship recycling efforts in Alang
IRClass recognises that India has the largest ship recycling industry, being responsible for one-third of all recycled tonnage in the world and as ship recycling remains an important part of the maritime industry, the Indian Register works closely with international maritime bodies to regulate the industry instead of stifling its growth.
To-date, four of the largest Indian ship recycling facilities have been certified by the requirements of European Union Ship Recycling Regulation (EUSRR) 1257/2013. About 25 ship recycling facilities have approached IRClass for a range of different services which included compliance audit against the Hong Kong Convention (HKC), EU compliance audit and ISO certifications.
To promote its efforts in Alang, the class society has opened an office in Alang which will support the ship recycling initiative.
