BV optimistic as classed fleet tops 9,000 ships
International classification society Bureau Veritas (BV) says its classed fleet has surpassed 9,000 vessels, totalling over 70 million gt.
Launching the 2009-2010 Marine Business Review, Bernard Anne, managing director of the BV marine division said, We ended 2009 with a fleet of 8,934 ships and since then have continued our strong growth, now passing 9,000 vessels and over 70 million gt. That very large number of vessels emphasises our wide-ranging strengths, and our diversity of expertise. That helps us and the owners who use our class in these challenging times to be pragmatically optimistic.
Challenging times are the best times for pragmatic optimists. We are pragmatic because we have been leaders in shipping for a very long time, and we know how cyclical markets work, and we were ready for this. We are pragmatic because we have a very diversified fleet and expertise base, and because we are present in every sector of shipping and offshore energy and every part of the world, ready to harvest and sustain new ideas, while supporting the best of the old. And we are optimistic because when the market is shaken up it opens the way for new ideas, new technology, and new ways of doing old things. If you can build on deep and diverse experience like ours then you can help others to innovate and adapt their strategies quickly to whatever challenges and opportunities the market turmoil throws up. Yes, we are all in for a tough time, but there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic for the future.