European MOU recognises BV performance

Classification society Bureau Veritas has been named as one of the three best performing classification societies in the world, based on Port State Control statistics from the Paris MOU.

This year is the first in which the Paris MOU has adopted a performance ranking of classification societies. The ranking is based on the number of ships inspected and deficiencies found across the 20 European countries which as the Paris MOU make up the world’s largest ship monitoring organisation. In its annual report the MOU says, “The committee has closely monitored the performance of classification societies. It has adopted a performance ranking according to the same principles as for flag states. The

list may provide the same incentive as it does for flag states to compete for higher quality.” It names Bureau Veritas, along with DNV and GL, as the best performing class societies.

Bernard Anne, managing director of the marine division of Bureau Veritas, says, “We are pleased to see this independent verification that BV is a world leader in quality. As the world’s largest classification and verification body we have a duty to set the highest standards, and we have used our group resources to invest heavily in training so that our surveyors are the best in the business. That, and a quality partnership approach with owners to help them improve and maintain standards, pays off in terms of a constantly improving and sustainable quality index. This welcome recognition from the world’s leading and largest port state control body is good news for our owners and our dedicated staff.”

During 2003, 30% of all ship visiting MOU ports were inspected.20,309 inspections on 12,382 ships were carried out, and criteria for assessing classification society related detentions were harmonised with both the USCG and the Tokyo MOU, to promote global acceptance of the Paris MOU results.