Page 24: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Q1 2013)

Risk is a mantra at Det Norske Veritas (DNV), and to be fair, at every major classiÞ cation society. By their very nature, the identiÞ cation, management and mitigation of risk runs through every aspect of class. Sitting atop DNV Ð and if the recently announced merger goes through, the com-bined DNV & Germanischer Lloyd (GL) Ð is Henrik O. Mad- sen, CEO, who shares with Maritime Professional his insights on managing risk in the maritime and offshore sectors. While DNV is adept at steering its clients through risk, the organization itself is embarked on a venture ? the proposed merger of DNV with German classi cation society (GL) ? that comes with its own brand of risk. ?First of all, during the negotiations we did agree on a business plan for the next three years, as well as an integration plan,? said Madsen in a recent interview from his of ce. ?Some of the important elements that we have agreed on are for the vision of the company; we have agreed on the values and leadership principles. So the foundation on which we build this is really very strong.? So while the organizations  le mountains of paperwork globally to the speci cation of the various national competi- tive authorities, the  ne details of what could be a classi ca-tion behemoth ? more than 17,000 employees globally with expertise in the oil & gas, renewable energy and power sec- tors, maritime and among the global top three within manage-ment system certi cation ? takes shape. ?Also, we were very similar in opinion on the importance of technology, technology leadership and the need to invest in that to support our industry, to support our customers. So I think some of these risks were mitigated very well from the outset. Personally, what I see is the biggest risk is during the integration period is to ensure we really keep focused on our customers. We can?t take the eye off of our customers and their needs.? And it is the customers that ultimately bene t from the collaboration, according to Madsen. ?If you are a ship owner you will see the combined DNV & GL with an even denser station network around the world, ready to sup- port you anywhere in the world in a better way. And these stations, which number more than 300, will have a wider and deeper competence of expertise.? TECHNOLOGY TO THE LEADWhile human factors are routinely cited as the leading cause in maritime accidents, Madsen has a strong adherence to tech-nology advances as the path to rationalizing maritime opera- tions to optimal safety standards. ?In DNV we always had the Henrik O. Madsen CEO, DNVLEADERSHIP24 | Maritime Professional | 1Q 2013MP #1 18-33.indd 24MP #1 18-33.indd 242/22/2013 11:02:17 AM2/22/2013 11:02:17 AM