RINA’s Hellenic Technical Committee meeting, organised by RINA Hellas, gathered over forty of its members on Wednesday 9 March 2016, at the Yacht Club of Greece, to facilitate marine industry discussion and provide an update on RINA’s growing business in the sector.
Co-Chairmen of the Committee, Mr. Theo Baltatzis, General Manager of Technomar Shipping Inc. and Mr. Akis Tsirigakis, General Manager of Nautilus Marine Acquisition Corp., welcomed new members and presented an overview of RINA’s marine business worldwide. RINA’s current classed fleet totals over 35 million GT and contains a portfolio of around 300 new builds. RINA proudly confirmed that it is now a recognised leader in passenger ship classification and by oil majors. Among the unique services and projects RINA has conducted, the chairmen highlighted its project for Carnival Group in which four dual fuel (LNG/Diesel) cruise ships, each 183,000 GT, will be built under RINA supervision.
Spyros Zolotas, RINA Area Manager for Greece and Cyprus, referred to the expansion of RINA Group worldwide and in Greece, which has grown both organically and through strategically acquiring companies that provide complementary services to RINA’s offering. In 2015, RINA significantly increased its classed fleet of Greek owned ships, which now totals around 6 million GT. Reorganisation of its Piraeus Office further strengthened RINA’s expertise and portfolio of services. In 2015, a new R&D/Innovation department was established in Greece and training services were boosted through RINA Academy Hellas.
Mr. Giorgio Saletti, RINA Area Manager for India & South East Asia began the technical section of the meeting with a presentation on ship recycling that explored relevant regulatory framework and measures ship owners need to take to comply with current EU regulations.
The topical issue of monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) was also discussed in a presentation by Andrea Cogliolo, RINA Deputy General Manager, Marine.
These were followed by presentations on the importance of competent staff by Stefanos Chatzinikolaou, Manager of Piraeus R&D/Innovation Centre and the Piraeus Training Center, and, the latest news concerning upcoming regulations in the marine sector from Michael Markogiannis, Manager of Piraeus Plan Approval and Technical Support Centre.
True to form for RINA Committee meetings, the Q&A session was active, with lively discussions on the marine industry and technical clarifications provided by RINA experts. Dynamic discussions continued over dinner until late.
RINA Services S.p.A. is the RINA company active in classification, certification, inspection and testing services.
RINA is a multi-national group which delivers verification, certification, conformity assessment, marine classification, environmental enhancement, product testing, site and vendor supervision, training and engineering consultancy across a wide range of industries and services. RINA operates through a network of companies covering Marine, Energy, Infrastructures & Construction, Transport & Logistics, Food & Agriculture, Environment & Sustainability, Finance & Public Institutions and Business Governance. With a turnover of over 330 million Euros in 2014, over 2,750 employees, and 163 offices in 60 countries worldwide, RINA is recognized as an authoritative member of key international organizations and an important contributor to the development of new legislative standards.
