7 January, 2014 (Tokyo) – ClassNK Chairman and President Noboru Ueda successfully fulfilled his term as Chairman of the Association of Asian Classification Societies (ACS) at the end of 2014, a position which he held from 1 January 2014. During his one-year tenure, Mr. Ueda was engaged in the following activities with a view to enhancing ACS’ operations and contributing to the Asian maritime industry.
1. Contribution to discussions at an international level
Mr. Ueda established a policy to reinforce the approach to discussions at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), so that more and more balanced international regulations would be developed with the voices of Asian maritime industry professionals reflected. To achieve this, the existing working groups that carry out technical programs have been integrated into two working groups dedicated to safety and environment issues. This has enabled ACS to monitor IMO’s activities more efficiently in line with the framework for discussions at IMO.
2. Enhancement of technical contributions to Asian maritime industry
ACS’ own technical seminar was held to provide the latest information on safety and environment related issues and a platform for discussions among the Asian maritime industry, with guest speakers from the Asian Shipowners’ Forum (ASF) and the Asian Shipbuilding Experts’ Forum (ASEF).
Furthermore, in order to keep pace with the developments of new regulations at IMO, Mr. Ueda took an initiative as ACS Chairman to develop ACS technical documents. As a result, five technical documents have been released, such as guidelines on Noise Code, Selective Catalytic Reduction System (SCR), Ballast Water Management System as well as the common format used for the Ship Recycling Convention and the compilation of PSC data.
3. Transformation into a higher quality organization
Mr. Ueda worked on the reinforcement of the Secretariat Office. In this regard, a staff dedicated to technical matters was appointed at the Secretariat Office to establish better and more efficient support for ACS technical activities.
Mr. Ueda stated that ClassNK will make the most of these experiences throughout 2014 as ACS Chair Society and the new position as ACS Vice Chair Society starting from 1 January 2015, and is determined to keep up the proactive contributions to ACS’ activities and communication with Asian industries.
