Quality growth at RINA

Italian classification and certification body RINA has recorded a very positive 2003 financial year. Consolidated group revenue was up by 2% compared to 2002, while earnings before interest and tax showed an increase of 34%. Overall group revenue topped $115 million, with a strong improvement in revenue in the certification and industrial services sectors but with the shipping sector remaining as the main contributor.

RINA?s traditional core business, the shipping sector, accounted for 59% of total revenue. The RINA-classed fleet continued to grow in 2003, adding an additional 1m tons to reach a total of 17m gross tons. RINA continues to pursue a selective policy based on the progressive acquisition of new ships and the controlled phasing-out of older tonnage, thereby lowering the average age – and raising the overall quality ? of the fleet to the highest possible standards.

Moreover, the performance of the RINA-classed fleet in 2003, assessed on the basis of worldwide Port State Control statistics, was better than the average performance of members of the International Association of Classification Societies. Results in the Paris MoU were particularly impressive, as were those recorded by the US Coast Guard, where RINA enjoyed a fourth successive year without a single detention.

“RINA is also building on its excellent reputation in the naval classification sector, as confirmed by its recent appointment to class the largest and most complex ship ever built for the Italian Navy, the fixed-wing aircraft carrier Conte di Cavour, under RINA?s special rules for naval vessels.