ClassNK Named Best in Class
Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) received one of the highest honors in the maritime industry when it received The Classification Society Award at the Lloyd’s List Asia Awards 2010 held in Singapore last night. In awarding ClassNK, this year’s distinguished panel of judges recognised the Society as the leading class society Asia, and acknowledged ClassNK’s commitment to the Asian maritime community.
The Lloyd’s List Asia Awards are presented each year for excellence and innovation in the Asian maritime sector. The award is a testament to the high quality of service that ClassNK provides to shipyards, managers, and owners throughout Asia. Since its founding in 1899, Tokyo based ClassNK has grown to become the world’s largest class society on a gross tonnage (GT) basis, with more than 176 million GT currently on its register. Last year alone almost 17 million GT of newbuildings were built to NK class, roughly 22% of all newbuilding tonnage built in 2009, and earlier this year ClassNK became the first class society in history to have more than 175 million GT on its register.
Only last month, ClassNK opened a new exclusive surveyor office in Dunkerque, France. The new office becomes the fifth new office to be opened by the Society this year, following the establishment of new offices in Cardiff this July. The new Dunkerque Office is also the Society’s second office to be opened in France joining an office in Marseille. Upon announcing the opening of the new office, ClassNK President & Chairman Noboru Ueda stated: “With the opening of this office, I am confident we can provide even better service to our clients in France and ensure the continued success of the ClassNK fleet.”