Starting from July 1st, the IACS Chairmanship passed on to Mr Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO Maritime, DNV GL. Addressing the 75th session of IACS Council (C75), held in Beijing, Mr Ørbeck-Nilssen highlighted his priorities for his Chairmanship.
Such priorities will be to further improve IACS quality systems and the assessment of IACS Members against those standards, to modernising Class in anticipation of the developments posed by digitalization and new technologies and to deepening IACS’ ongoing commitment to transparency in line with the expectations of our stakeholders and society at large.
Mr Ørbeck-Nilssen said: ‘I look forward to the challenge of chairing IACS during this time of rapid technological change and digitalisation. The current tectonic shifts in markets, regulations and technology make it crucial that IACS retains its position as a key player in this evolving landscape with high standards of performance and quality.’
During the meeting, the council made progress on a range of issues, such as initiating a review to ensure that IACS Resolutions are fully adapted to handle the future development of ships with increased automation and connectivity and aligning the IACS strategic plan for the next five years to complement the vision and strategic directions of the IMO.
Further, IACS continues developing an oversight programme that enables Administrations to oversee their Recognised Organisations in an efficient manner.
Set against the background of the decreasing trend in Port State Control detentions, the IACS Council was also pleased to confirm that all IACS Members had once more successfully completed their periodic membership review that ensures their ongoing membership of the Association.
The former Chairmanship of IACS, Dr Sun, stated: ‘It has been a landmark year for IACS; collectively the IACS members have accomplished a range of initiatives including signing an historic Memorandum of Agreement with the IMO, achieving full GBS compliance at MSC 98, promoting work on cyber safety and innovative survey techniques and further strengthening relationships with regulators and industry.’
Immediately following C75, IACS hosted a high-level workshop on International Maritime Strategy attended by senior representatives from the IMO, Flag States, shipbuilders and shipowners where the future IMO strategy was discussed along with the role of Class and IACS in supporting its successful delivery.
