Page 24: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2018)

Thought

Leadership

CLASS

Remi

ERIKSEN

Group President &

CEO, DNV GL

Remi Eriksen, Group President and CEO of DNV

GL, has been on the job for nearly three years, tak- ing over at arguably one of the more challenging and pivotal times in maritime history. We met with Erik- sen recently in Athens, Greece, for his insights on the markets and DNV GL’s position going forward.

By Greg Trauthwein

While Remi Eriksen’s tenure at the turn,” said Eriksen. “One area we have top of DNV GL has coincided almost been investing in is digitalization and perfectly with one of the maritime in- our own digital journey, but also to help dustry’s deepest and longest slumps, he our customers make the transition to the said that there is the proverbial light at digital world.” the end of the tunnel, with a small pick “Our purpose is the same, safeguard- up in shipbuilding year-on-year since ing life, property and the environment. 2016. “We have been through challeng- Our core markets are the same: maritime ing markets for the last three years, par- (the biggest); oil and gas, and energy. ticularly the newbuilding market which The main difference now is we are lean- is very important for class,” said Erick- er, more agile, more responsive and for sen. “But it was needed because there sure more digital than we were 3 years were too many ships chasing too little ago.

work. It was needed, but it also means that shipbuilding activity has been at a The Digitalization “Perfect Storm” historic low. The upturn is coming, but When looking at DNV GL and the fu- it will be nothing like the super cycle we ture of class, there is no doubt that future saw from 2005 to 2015.” is digital. “The digital world offers some

As the collective maritime market di- opportunities, and it also introduces gests a challenging market, shipowners some risk, such as cyber risk (or cyber- must also invest in the face of many new attacks),” said Eriksen. Sharing data regulatory demands. “From the sulfur raises many trust issues, and to Eriksen cap in 2020 to the ballast water manage- this makes class an even more important ment technology, to the CO2 road map partner moving forward. “Trust has been that IMO has decided on, there are many important in the past, and I think class things happening on the regulatory side, can provide trust in the digital world too. along with a challenging market,” said I think moving forward the industry is

Eriksen. even more complex, and class will be

As many leading organizations have more important than ever, particularly as been forced to do, DNV GL has take the being an enabler in helping to take ad-

Photo:DNV GL opportunity to “adjust during the down- vantage of data and driving data into the 24 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • AUGUST 2018

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