Page 23: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Q4 2011)

clients. It is a reflection of the quality philosophy and highquality standards imposed by the Indian Register of Shipping.? Notably, IRS is one of the founding members of the Association of Asian Classification Societies (ACS), an Association officially started last year and intended to com- plement the activities of IACS. One of ACS? major activities involves the undertaking need-based research for regulatory bodies and other shipping bodies in Asia. AFTER IACS: THE WORK CONTINUES Arun Sharma, the new IRS Chairman, said in September, ?IRS has the honor of being funded by the European Union(EU) for participating in one of their research projects. Infact IRS is the only member to be funded by the EU for thisEU research project. IRS was also the first associate member of the IACS to be recognized by the International Underwriters Association (IUA) under the Institute?s Classification clause. Under this clause only full members of IACS were granted recognition and IRS became the only member to be recognized in May, 2000, while still an Associate of IACS, under this clause.? IRS has focused much of its attention on research anddevelopment, along the way developing several technical software tools for in-house use as well as for industry. This includes ?Shipmate?, which guides the master and ship?s personnel regarding the condition of the ship in real time, and how to manage the safety of the ship in case of ground- ing and other emergencies. Among other things, it also pro- vides advice on how to mitigate damage caused in an acci- dent. Another major IRS effort involves computer based training modules, which are eLearning modules for conduct-ing surveys and carrying them out efficiently. Significantly, IRS sets aside almost 30 percent of its rev- enue for R&D and has on-going training programs to ensureconsistency in work and execution of the surveys. Training is also provided the Indian Administration, Coast Guard, Navy, shipowners, mariners and a host of other stakeholders. Since achieving IACS compliance, IRS leaders have not been sitting on their hands. India and Singapore became thefirst two countries to meet all target dates for the implemen- tation of the ISPS code as declared by the then IMOSecretary General, for which purpose the IndianAdministration appointed IRS as the sole ?RecognizedSecurity Organization? (RSO) to ensure ISPS Code compli- ance by Indian Ships & Ports.MP #4 (18-33):MP Layouts 11/8/2011 1:46 PM Page 23