Latest News from Germanischer Lloyd

• GL First Class Exchange Forum Ship Recycling: Do you know what's inside your ship? Hamburg, 28 September 2007 - Ship recycling is a delicate subject: Working conditions at many shipbreaking yards around the world are rarely acceptable, environmental standards often low. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is taking actions: A new convention is currently being drafted to regulate the breaking up of old ships. How can shipowners and yards prepare for the new requirements? This was the key question discussed by representatives of the shipyards, owners, and supply industry at yesterday's First Class Exchange Forum organized by Germanischer Lloyd. Henning Gramann, environmental engineer and expert for ship recycling at Germanischer Lloyd, informed about the details of the new IMO requirements. The core element of the convention for shipyards and ship owners will be a compendium of the potentially hazardous materials present in ship structure and equipment, called the "Inventory of Hazardous Materials" (IHM). Accordingly, the shipowners will have to keep a list for each of their ships, showing the harmful materials and their precise locations. This will apply to newbuildings as well as ships already in service. "The list must be kept up to date through the entire operating life of a ship," Gramann explained. In this way, the planned legislation will affect all shipowners, not just the last one in the line. The GL expert also pointed out that it is high time for all parties involved to get prepared: "The draft of the new convention is due to be completed next year, so that the ratification process will begin early in 2009." The exact date when the law can come into effect depends on entry into force conditions still have to be laid down. Henning Gramann expects entry into force of the convention approximately in 2013: "However, it is obvious that most of todays ships, and all newbuilds above 500GT will fall under this regime and when it is finally valid internationally, action must be taken without delay." The suppliers will have to prepare a so-called "Suppliers Declaration of Conformity" and Materials Declarations providing details of the hazardous smaterials contained in their products. These documents will form the baiss for the ship specific Inventory of Hazardous Materials which will be developed by the shipyard. The related functionalities and challenges for shipyards and suppliers were highlighted by Jens Rogge, Lead Auditor at GL. "Not all required information is readily available", he pointed out. "And suppliers are not always willing to give details of components." He also introduced the GL service to support owners and shipyards alike. The classification society offers an inventory certification for new and existing ships as well as an IHM database for long-time, continuous support. The new "IHM Monitoring System" was explained further by GL expert Dr Wiegand Grafe. He showed how the tool helps to keep the inventory list up to date at all times. "The system," Dr Grafe explained. "will make preparation and maintenance of the Inventory easier for all parties involved." Participating owners were sceptical about the manageability of a frequently updated inventory. Who is responsible for gathering the requested information? Who will verify its validity? Henning Gramann and his team were eager to provide answers to all questions. He admitted: "The compilation of all hazardous material requires considerable effort. At Germanischer Lloyd we try to optimize the process as designed by the IMO to the maximum possible and are looking straight forward to offer services in line with the future legal requirements, and not according to outdated and inefficient guidelines." Guest speaker Dr Alexander Berg, Director of AB - Dr. A. Berg GmbH, welcomed the class society's initiative to develop a software tool for convenient documentation of hazardous material. He stressed the importance of physically identification of the substances, materials and compounds on existing ships rather than trying to gather information from former shipyards or manufacturers documentation. "One should perform onboard inspections, take samples of suspicious materials and analyse them", he explained his approach. "For many materials a separate analysis will not be necessary, if a general assumption can be made", Dr Berg said. This would also reduce the effort for identification and analysis and he stressed the importance of good planning of onboard inspections and taking of samples. Which are, besides experts´ knowledge and expertise, the key issues for provision of quick and efficient development of the Inventory of Hazardous Materials. If the convention enters into force in 2013 as expected, globally approximately 50.000 ships will fall under the new regulation. The looming growth in demand is the main, but not the only reason why Germanischer Lloyd is advising its customers to start compiling an Inventory of Hazardous Materials and to commence certification sooner than later. The list can also represent a competitive advantage. Environmental protection is becoming increasingly a matter of image. And once a shipowner has made a commitment to quality management and thus also to continuous improvement of his environmental standards, he can present such a certificate as a bonus. The next First Class Exchange Forum on "Emissions in Shipping" will take place on 10 October 2007. • State Marine Technical University of St Petersburg and Germanischer Lloyd A strong alliance for Advanced Training St Petersburg / Hamburg, 28 September 2007 - High scientific standards and practical relevance for a first class maritime education: The State Marine Technical University of St Petersburg (SMTU) and Germanischer Lloyd (GL) are joining hands in close collaboration. Reason enough for more than 60 representatives from the maritime industry and educational institutions to celebrate in St Petersburg. First steps of the cooperation have already been made: With the financial support of Germanischer Lloyd, the Bureau for Innovative Projects of the SMTU has been established as "GL Auditorium". The centre for scientific excellence has been equipped with computer hardware and GL's ship structural design and analysis tool POSEIDON. The event marked the beginning of an extensive cooperation for advanced maritime training. "Qualified staff is rare and the lack of experienced engineers hits the headlines almost on a daily basis", Torsten Schramm, Division Manager Europe/Middle East/Africa and Chief Operating Officer at Germanischer Lloyd, pointed out in his speech. To accommodate the demands of young engineers GL experts will help to develop suitable topics for dissertations and theses. The tutoring of degree students and interns will also form part of the cooperation activities. "Rules and guidelines, working methods and management processes have to be reviewed and enhanced continuously. Therefore, we always welcome the input by young engineers and naval architects - be it their visions or their scepticism", underlines Torsten Schramm. To honour the hard work and time spent at the SMTU and in the "GL Auditorium", Germanischer Lloyd decorates students graduating at the top of their class with the new GL Award. State Marine Technical University The governmental educational institution subordinated to the Ministry of Education was founded in 1899. Today, the SMTU trains engineers in three maritime faculties: naval architecture and ocean engineering, marine engineering as well as marine electronics and control systems. The university has been successfully certified by the International Education Society (IES) in London, ranking as a "top institution with international experience". • Changes in Germanischer Lloyd's Executive Board A ceremonious farewell for Rainer Schöndube Hamburg, 27 September 2007 - Rainer Schöndube, Member of the Executive Board at Germanischer Lloyd AG, will conclude his successful tenure at the classification society based in Hamburg on 30 September 2007. Over 200 guests came to his farewell at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hamburg. Among them were Senator Gunnar Uldall, the President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Prof. Rüdiger Wolfrum, and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium, Mark Geleyn. At the reception, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Dr Wolfgang Peiner, and Dr Hermann J. Klein, Member of the Executive Board at Germanischer Lloyd, acknowledged Rainer Schöndube's many years of excellent service. After ten years as Director of Finance and Administration, followed by 17 years on the Board, Schöndube is handing things over in good order. At the beginning of Schöndube's career, in 1980, Germanischer Lloyd had 535 employees. Today, over 4,100 employees in over 76 countries work for the classification society. During this period Germanischer Lloyd's newbuilding orderbook rose from 1.1 million GT to over 24 million GT. In particular, in the recent past a positive development was perceptible. The Fleet in Service which Germanischer Lloyd monitors has grown since 1980 from 16.5 million GT to over 70 million GT. The number of ships under regular supervision has nearly doubled, and currently totals more than 6,300 units. Germanischer Lloyd is the market leader in the classification of containerships and multi-purpose units. It has also had considerable success on the market with the classification of tanker and bulk carrier newbuildings. Some of the milestones in Rainer Schöndube's career include the incorporation of the Deutsche Schiffs-Revision und Klassifikation (DSRK), the East German classification society in 1990/1991, the EU class directive of 1994 and the resulting modernisation process of the society - from being similar to an administration to a modern technical service company. In addition to the extension of the international network of experts and authorities, and the establishment of the Asia Pacific Division in 1998, other milestones include the development of the "Industrial Services" business segment, the successful prevention of a hostile takeover and the planned construction of new GL headquarters in Hamburg's "Hafencity". Before joining Germanischer Lloyd as Director of Finance and Administration on 1 October 1980, Rainer Schöndube, who received his degree in business, worked as a tax advisor and accountant for the accounting firm Treuarbeit AG. In 1997 he was appointed Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Belgium in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Rainer Schöndube will remain affiliated with Germanischer Lloyd as an external advisor. After Mr Schöndube's retirement, the Executive Board of Germanischer Lloyd will consist of Dr Hermann J. Klein and Dr Joachim Segatz.