Page 42: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2016)

CLASSIFICATION awareness systems like you are starting to see on the new ing into this market, speculating and bringing in new help to identify the changes and determine the impact, cars, helping to take away some of the human errors; and capacity. I think it will recover, but I don’t think it will as well as determine the options available under chang- hopefully you can reduce manning. At some point you be as strong as we have seen in the past. ing regulations. The second is that we have the purpose will see unmanned ships. We are starting some pilot tri- to safeguard life, property and the environment, and als over the next year or so testing some of the systems, CAN YOU PUT IN PERSPECTIVE OF HOW that we can help to ensure that regulators really know with people onboard. But I think in three of four years MODERN COMPUTATIONAL POWER AND the impact of their regulations so they are not introduc-

I think you will have point-to-point traf? c without any SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS HAVE MADE SHIP ing regulation with unintended consequences. It is a people onboard. CONCEPTION AND DESIGN MORE EFFI- dual role: to ensure that the regulations are good and

CIENT AND EFFECTIVE. not causing unintended effects; and to help ship owners

WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT ‘TAKING THE DOWN We have the ability to optimize ships for certain understand so they can make better decisions.

TIMES TO INVEST AND PLAN FOR THE FU- routes, meaning you can measure fuel savings for ex-

TURE.’ BUT MANY SHIP OWNERS, AS YOU ample. And there is the ability to perform more ad- THE FUTURE OF CLASS: FROM YOUR PER-

KNOW, ARE STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE. vanced calculations, meaning that we can more accu- SPECTIVE, WHAT ARE THE TWO OR THREE

WHAT IS THE REALITY ON THE STREET? rately put steel at the best locations, meaning we will TECHNOLOGIES OR CAPABILITIES WILL

Some companies are literally turning over every stone get a more robust ship. HAVE THE MOST DRAMATIC IMPACT. to save money and to survive, then you have compa- 1. Condition based monitoring and maintenance.

nies that are more robust, companies that can take this EMERGING REGULATIONS ARE PUTTING A 2. Remote surveying with drones, for example.

opportunity to invest for the future. But the reality is: TREMENDOUS STRESS ON SHIP OWNERS 3. Connectivity: Gives us a better understanding of there is not another China. China drove a lot of inter- TO “KEEP UP.” HOW DO YOU SEE THE ROLE how trends change over time. national trade and shipbuilding. This is a (down) cycle, OF “CLASS” IN ASSISTING VESSEL OWNERS 4. Autonomous Ships (beyond 2025) but the super cycle that we saw from 2004 to 2008 will AND OPERATORS COMPLY WITH THE NEW not come again. (Also, with the fact that) money is so RULES? THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFUL OF ‘PREMIER’ cheap right now, you will see many new players com- There are two lines of thought. One is that we can CLASSIFICATION SOCIETIES. WHAT MAKES

The Power of People “85% of our staff have a university degree, with many masters and PhD level as well. This helps because ... the world is not black and white, there are many shades of grey, and you need to be able to make good decisions.”

Photo: DNV GL 42 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • OCTOBER 2016

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