Page 29: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 2013)

www.marinelink.com 29??The traditional and primary role of Class will always remain - Safety of life and assets at sea, and protection and preservation of the marine environment. However, because of changing needs and demands of the industry, the role of Class also needs to change.? Arun Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Register of Shipping (IRS)time institutes has been developed by IRS and presented to the Indian Admin- istration. IRS was also retained by the Government to frame the Indian Coastal Rules and these have recently been com-pleted and submitted to DGS last month. IRS?s singular achievement is being appointed as the Recognized Organiza- tion (RO) of 22 ß ag registries, which in- clude Panama, Liberia, Marshall Islands besides India, the latest being Marshall Islands. All these 22 registries constitute 80 percent of the world ß eet tonnage. IRS today has more than 1,700 vessels registered with it totaling about 11.0 mil- lion GT. Now that IRS has IACS mem- bership the opportunities have improved signiÞ cantly, it expects to see its growth mushroom. Sharma said, ?Our application for EU membership has already been forwarded through Bulgarian ß ag administration. EU has already initiated the process to-wards recognition of IRS.?In conclusion, IRS Þ rmly believes that as we move into time, the Class, the ship owning industry, shipyards and the ß ag states will need to work together in order to achieve the goals set out more expe-ditiously. MR #7 (26-33).indd 29MR #7 (26-33).indd 297/1/2013 9:30:27 AM7/1/2013 9:30:27 AM