Nick Brown Elected as Next Chair of IACS

The International Association of Classification Societies announced last week that Nick Brown, CEO of Lloyd's Register, has been elected as its next council chair. It marks the first time that the chair has been elected to the post by IACS' members rather than automatically taking up the role by rotation, inaugurating a change in governance announced in December last year. As part of those changes, Mr. Brown’s term of office will run for two years - not just the traditional one year - and will expire at the end of 2023. 

Along with Nick Brown, Li Zhiyuan of the China Classification Society has been elected as chair of IACS' General Policy Group (GPG) for a three-year period starting July 1.

Governance reforms have been under discussion at IACS for years, and in December, its 12 class society members adopted a range reaching measures to make IACS better suited to an era of  rapid technological development, constant regulatory change and evolving market dynamics.  These measures include a two-year term for an elected chair, an elected General Policy Group (GPG) Chair to join the IACS Secretariat in London, a move to simple-majority voting for most decisions and a revamped chair’s office to speed up decisionmaking.

"I am honored to have been named Chair of the International Association of Classification Societies," said Brown. "The governance arrangements developed over the past years have sent a clear signal to our stakeholders that IACS and its members are committed to ensuring that the classification industry remains an effective force in the maritime sector . . . The current Council Chair, Koichi Fujiwara of ClassNK, has successfully delivered far-reaching change to the governance of IACS while simultaneously ensuring that IACS remained fully responsive to industry needs."

Nick joined Lloyd’s Register in 1996 and was appointed its CEO in January 2021. Over the course of his career with LR, he has worked as a ship surveyor in Bahrain, Dubai, Finland and Germany before moving to China, where he spent seven years leading LR’s activities in the country. More recently, he has sered as LR's Director for Business Development and Innovation, Marine Chief Operating Officer and Marine and Offshore Director.