RINA launches Competence Management System certification

International classification society RINA Services has launched a new Competence Management System certification which helps ship owners and managers to raise the skill levels of their crews and shore staff above the basic statutory requirements. Italy-based PB Tankers is the first company to benefit from the new voluntary certification.

RINA’s Competence Management System guides shipowners and managers to develop and maintain high level targeted skills in their ships’ crews and operational shore staff. Its certification benefits them by proving to charterers, authorities, financiers and insurers that the company has a system for ensuring that its crews have the skills and competence required to operate safely and efficiently in today’s complex marine environment.

Paolo Moretti, General Manager Marine, RINA Services, says, “The increasingly complex technologies on board ship, constantly changing and ever more stringent regulations and the close attention paid to the preparation of the personnel by the verifiers used by charterers and also Port State Control officials make it necessary for ship operators to upskill their crews, and they need a system to manage that. RINA’s CMS gives them both a system framework and recognition of their investment.”

Federica Barbaro, Managing Director, PB Tankers says, “We are confident that being the first to be certified with the Competence Management System will demonstrate to our loyal clientele the continual improvement we build into our services, the safety of our seafarers and environmental protection.”

RINA’s Competence Management System is set out in RINA NCC89E Rules for the Certification of Competence Management Systems. It requires companies to establish, document, implement and maintain a competence management system and continually improve its effectiveness in accordance with the requirements of the rules. The company must determine the criteria and methods needed to ensure that both the operation and control of the competence management system are effective and ensure the availability of resources and information necessary to support the operation and monitoring of the competence management system.

The CMS has to include a competence management policy, a plan for the implementation of the competence management system on board and ashore, defined company objectives and indicators relevant to the competence management system, procedures for competence assessment and gap analysis and a plan of competence acquisition. A monitoring and evaluation process must be built in.

The CMS is certified for three years following a process of initial audit, then maintained with annual audits. It can be integrated into an existing business management system and is complimentary to and works with and alongside industry systems such as the TMSA.

For a copy of NCC89E e mail john@merlinco.com

PB Tankers is an Italian company operating a fleet of MR and product tankers. www.pbtankers.com

RINA Services is the RINA group company which delivers ship classification, and testing, inspection and certification services. www.rina.org

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. www.rinagroup.org

           
Contacts:

Giulia Faravelli

Head of Media & Internal Communication RINA

+39 010 5385505

giulia.faravelli@rina.org

Victoria Silvestri

Media Relations RINA

+39 010 5385555

victoria.silvestri@rina.org

Bureau Veritas publishes Current and Tidal Turbines guidelines

International classification society and certification group Bureau Veritas has published a set of guidelines, NI 603, intended to help the development of current and tidal turbines. The guidelines are backed by a separate guide to certification for marine renewable energy devices including tidal turbines, wave energy converters and ocean thermal energy conversion.

Philippe Donche-Gay, Executive Vice-President and Head of the Marine & Offshore Division of Bureau Veritas says, “Marine renewable energy offers promising sources of clean energy. Emerging technologies that generate electricity by harnessing the power of tidal streams, waves and temperature gradients, are moving from research phase to commercial use. We think that over the next five to ten years, the number of tidal turbines in particular is set to multiply. There is a clear need for standards and certification in this fast-developing field.”

To ensure the commercial viability of their projects, designers and operators involved in marine energy must be able to demonstrate their technologies are safe and offer high quality and reliability. This can be complex in an emerging sector with no real track record, and where international standards are still under development. Bureau Veritas, as an established certification body with extensive experience in renewable energy and marine and offshore energy issues leads the industry with these guidance notes setting standards specific to current and tidal turbines and guidelines on certification for them.

NI 603 Current and Tidal Turbines sets down guidelines applicable to current and tidal turbines which are installed on the seabed and which produce electricity from tidal power, underwater current power or estuary water power. They cover the materials and loads for the support structure, including foundations and turbine and also the requirements for the electrical installation. There are sections on life-cycle considerations, manufacturing, installation, commissioning, maintenance and decommissioning.

The Marine Renewable Energy Guide to Certification sets out how developers in these emerging fields can approach certification of their units and prototypes.

For a graphic of turbines go to http://bit.ly/1As4kK8 and for a copy of both guides e mail john@merlinco.com

Bureau Veritas is a world leader in laboratory testing, inspection and certification services. Created in 1828, the Group has more than 66,000 employees in around 1,400 offices and laboratories located all across the globe. Bureau Veritas helps its clients to improve their performance by offering services and innovative solutions in order to ensure that their assets, products, infrastructure and processes meet standards and regulations in terms of quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social responsibility. Bureau Veritas is listed on Euronext Paris and belongs to the Next 20 index. Compartment A, ISIN code FR 0006174348, stock symbol: BVI.

Corporate website www.bureauveritas.com/marine-and-offshore

  Marine client portal www.veristar.com  

For more information:

Stephane Le Diraison

Product Manager Marine Renewable Energy

+33 (0)1 55 24 74 23

stephane.le-diraison@bureauveritas.com

Philippe Boisson

Marine & Offshore Communication Director

Bureau Veritas

+33 (0)1 55 24 71 98 

philippe.boisson@bureauveritas.com

Energy and marine propel RINA international growth

Expanding international testing, inspection, certification and consulting engineering group RINA has grown strongly during 2014, propelled by an upturn in marine, acquisition in the energy sector and international diversification. Turnover for 2014 grew 13 per cent to Euro 333 million. EBITDA (adjusted) grew to Euro 37.7m.

Ugo Salerno, Chairman and CEO of RINA S.p.A., says, “2014 was an important year for RINA. We were not only able to seize opportunities for new business around the world such as major development projects in Egypt and Turkmenistan, but we were also able to take advantage of signs of recovery in shipping and opportunities in energy. We now look forward with optimism because our spirit of innovation, our deep research and strong competences give us a platform for success. The hard work of our people, their talent for constantly reinventing themselves to meet the market needs and their ability to cross frontiers and feel at home everywhere underpin RINA’s development.”

Results for RINA’s Energy business line stood out in 2014, growing 23 per cent thanks to the consolidation of the acquisition of materials specialist CSM (Centro Sviluppo Materiali) and outstanding growth in countries such as Indonesia and Brazil.

Floating offshore units have a specific focus within RINA. They include offshore support vessels, mobile drilling rigs, offshore field construction units, oil and gas import and export offshore terminals and floating production and storage units. Class and class related specialist services to this sector grew throughout 2014, totalling at the year’s end about 1.45m GT and 320 units in operation or ongoing new building and conversion projects.

The Marine business grew 5 per cent. RINA Services, the group company which delivers ship classification and certification ended the year with a classed fleet of 5,166 vessels totalling 34m GT and with an order book for 680 vessels totalling 4.6m GT. RINA also confirmed its place as the global leader in classification of passenger ro-ro ferries and ro-ro vessels in general and as a major player in the cruise ship sector, whether measured by classed fleet or new order book.

New orders in 2014 included two mega cruise ships for MSC Cruises. The 5,300-passenger vessels will be built by Fincantieri and will include innovative open spaces and very high environmental performance. RINA Services is also classing a significant jumboisation project for MSC Cruises, the Renaissance Project. Also in the cruise sector Seabourn Cruise Line ordered two 604-passengers luxury cruise vessels to RINA class at Fincantieri and RINA class was chosen for two similar vessels to be built for Silversea Cruises.

RINA also focussed on providing value-added services to shipowners, always aiming to reduce costs, reduce risks and improve fleet availability. The strong service ethic of RINA’s global network led shipowners to move 400 ships totalling 2.6m GT to RINA class during 2014.

Within the rest of the group, Business Assurance grew 3.5 per cent and Transport and Infrastructures grew 20 per cent and for the first time were able to compete in major projects outside Italy. Food testing and certification grew 13 per cent with Agroqualità, RINA’s food company, becoming the leader in South Italy and the second largest nationally.

RINA’s consulting engineering company D’Appolonia grew 7 per cent thanks to  diversification and international growth in areas such as the Mozambique, India, Uruguay, USA.

RINA’s group strategy of growth through targeted acquisition continued with the acquisition of material specialist CSM, Tunisian food laboratory Lab21, Brazilian certification company Bracert and marine survey company Hayes Stuart in Canada. This international growth was underpinned by the capital investment of Intesa Sanpaolo and Vei Capital who together provided Euro 25m in capital and put at the disposal of the group a further Euro 75m to fund the international growth plan.

 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.        

Contacts:

Giulia Faravelli

Media Relations Manager RINA

+39 010 5385505

giulia.faravelli@rina.org

Victoria Silvestri

Media Relations RINA

+39 010 5385555

victoria.silvestri@rina.org

RINA to certify major Caspian port and logistics hub development

RINA Services has been awarded a contract to provide design review and third party certification services for a major port and logistics hub development at Turkmenbashi, on the Caspian Sea coast of Turkmenistan.

The $1.5bn Turkmenbashi International Port is being built by one of the leading Turkish construction companies, Gap Insaat Yatırım ve Dış Ticaret A.Ş. The port complex is due for completion in 2017 and will include four terminals, road and rail links, and a ship-repair yard. Freight throughput is expected to reach 25 million tonnes by 2020.

Michele Francioni, CEO, RINA Services, says, “RINA has been chosen for the project design review and construction monitoring and certification because we can bring together maritime, construction, infrastructure and project-management skills. RINA has a strong footprint in Turkmenistan, which is a growing and important trading nation in a key geo-strategic location. All parties respect our independence. We will provide our services to ensure the project is delivered on specification, making it a powerful economic generator in the Caspian region and a key link in the Silk Route.”

A major pipeline is already being built to link Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh gas field, the world's second-largest natural gas deposit, to Turkmenbashi. The port complex will export oil and gas products and textiles and facilitate trade between Europe and the Middle East and Asia.
Says Francioni, “RINA’s experience with and focus on the environment is a key factor. The State Service of Maritime and River Transportation of Turkmenistan intends that the new port will be built from the outset as part of a multi-modal network linking road, rail and water transportation in an environmentally-friendly way. We know about ports, we know how to manage environmental issues, we know Turkmenistan, we understand what they want and we have good experience of working with Turkish construction companies on major infrastructure projects.”

RINA Services S.p.A. is the RINA group 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 294 million Euros in 2013, over 2,500 employees, and 163 offices in 57 countries worldwide, RINA is recognized as an authoritative member of key international organizations and an important contributor to the development of new legislative standards. www.rina.org

For more information:
Giulia Faravelli
Media Relations Manager RINA
+39 010 5385505
giulia.faravelli@rina.org

Victoria Silvestri
Media Relations RINA
+39 010 5385555
victoria.silvestri@rina.org

Bureau Veritas to class and certify KAOMBO FPSOs for Saipem

Bureau Veritas has been awarded a contract by Saipem to provide classification and certification services for the two KAOMBO FPSOs for service off Angola.

The US$4bn project for the FPSOs was awarded to Saipem by Total for the engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning of two converted turret-moored Floating Production Storage and Offloading units (FPSOs) for the Kaombo Field Development Project, located in Block 32, offshore Angola. Bureau Veritas will oversee the conversion of the vessels and class the floaters in service, while certifying the topsides and turret assemblies.

Marie-Francoise Renard, Offshore Sales and Marketing Director, Bureau Veritas, says, “Saipem entrusted Bureau Veritas with this important contract because we could meet their three key needs. They sought a third-party company with sufficient FPSO experience to deal with a challenging first conversion project for Total, the third-party had to have sufficient resources in South-East Asia for the follow-up of the conversion of two large FPSOs more or less in parallel, and, crucially, they needed to work with a company that has the capacity to work in Angola for local content issues during the EPC and in service phases for at least 15 years. Bureau Veritas, as a global FPSO leader, is able to match those needs with major teams already in Asian yards and a strong track record in Angola, especially with local content.”

Two VLCCs will be converted into FPSOs at Sembawang shipyard, Singapore. Each will have an oil treating capacity of 115,000 barrels per day, a water injection capacity of 200,000 barrels per day, a 100 million scfd gas compression capacity and a storage capacity of 1.7 million barrels of oil. Part of the activities related to engineering, procurement, topsides modules fabrication and integration as well as commissioning onshore and offshore works will be carried out in Angola. The topsides fabrication activities will be undertaken in Saipem’s Karimun Island Yard, located in Indonesia. The first FPSO unit will be operational by the first quarter of 2017 and the second unit by the second quarter of the same year.

Bureau Veritas is one of the big three major class societies active in the offshore field and is a leader in FPSOs. In total it has worked on around 140 FPSOs. Today, it classes around 50 in service and is classing or verifying another ten currently under construction.
http://www.saipem.com

VISIT Bureau Veritas at ONS Stand No J961

Bureau Veritas is a world leader in conformity assessment and certification services. Created in 1828, the Group has 61,000 employees in around 1,330 offices and laboratories located in 140 countries. Bureau Veritas helps its clients to improve their performance by offering services and innovative solutions in order to ensure that their assets, products, infrastructure and processes meet standards and regulations in terms of quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social responsibility.

www.bureauveritas.com for corporate information

www.veristar.com for marine information

For more information:

Marie-Francoise Renard,
Offshore Sales and Marketing Director
Bureau Veritas
+33 (0) 1 55 24 72 36
marie-francoise.renard@bureauveritas.com


Philippe Boisson
Bureau Veritas
+33 (0)1 55 24 71 98
philippe.boisson@bureauveritas.com

RINA acquires leading materials technology centre CSM

Growing Italian engineering, testing, inspection, certification and ship classification group RINA has bought the major shareholding in Italy’s leading centre for innovation in materials technology, CSM. The move strengthens RINA’s expertise in specialised steel processes and products, especially for the energy sector, and in innovative waste to energy conversion technologies.

RINA CEO Ugo Salerno says, “Bringing CSM into RINA is part of our long-term growth strategy of developing and widening our specialist competence. CSM’s very highly skilled engineers and scientists bring skill sets which complement ours and will enable us to grow faster in developing countries and in the offshore energy business, two areas of major opportunity for RINA.”
CSM CEO Mauro Pontremoli says, “Joining RINA gives us the financial platform and market outreach we need to deliver our skills and knowledge globally. We already earn 45 per cent of our revenues outside Italy and there is huge demand for advanced materials knowledge in the developing world, especially in steel and metal alloys processes and products. Working with RINA we can capitalise on our knowledge base, our over 800 patents and our innovative processes such as in waste-to-energy and in pipeline development.”

CSM has a turnover of around Euro 30 million and employs around 300 people in centres across Italy. Its acquisition will boost RINA’s projected 2014 turnover to around Euro 330 million.
RINA is a multinational group that provides services for verification, certification, conformity assessment, marine classification, environmental development, product testing, supervision and qualification of suppliers, engineering consultancy and training across a broad range of industries and services. RINA operates through a network of companies dedicated to different sectors: Shipping, Energy, Infrastructure and Construction, Logistics and Transport, Environment and Quality, Agribusiness and Health, Finance and Public Institutions, Business Governance. With a turnover over 280 million euros in 2012, over 2,200 staff, and 150 offices in 53 countries around the world, the group is able to meet the needs of its clients and at the same time is recognized as authoritative participant in the main international organizations developing new regulatory standards. www.rina.org

CSM was founded in 1963 by Italy's major steel manufacturers and end-users with the mission to develop steel technologies and applications. Over time CSM widened the range of its technological interests and skills to cover new capabilities related to new materials, products and manufacturing technologies in order to become a reference research centre for steel and high tech industry both at national and European level. Today, Centro Sviluppo Materiali is a prominent enterprise among European top materials R&D centres, co-operating with Italian and international industries, universities and research agencies and playing a recognised role as a national and international reference-point for innovation on materials. www.c-s-m.it

For more information:

Susanna Gorni
Media Relations RINA Group
Ph. +39 010 5385555
Mail. susanna.gorni@rina.org

Elisabetta Amici
External Relations CSM
Ph. +39 06 5055780
Mail. E.amici@c-s-m.it

Global environmental and safety certification first for Ignazio Messina

Ignazio Messina & C. S.p.A has become the first Italian shipping group with an integrated logistics system to attain Environmental (ISO 14001) and Health and Safety (OHSAS 18001) certification for all its activities. Certification was provided by Italian certification company and classification society RINA.

This considerable achievement is the culmination of a long process of intense activity aimed at preventing industrial accidents as well as environmental pollution, which the company’s top management have pursued with determination and perseverance.

The process began in 2001 when the company obtained its first Occupational Health and Safety Certificate for the Nino Ronco Terminal in the port of Genoa - an initiative which, at the time, represented a real cultural evolution towards transparency and the desire to provide and operate in total safety. Ignazio Messina thereafter decided to extend this process to the Group’s complex activities, resulting now in a new first for the maritime sector.

With its ninety years of history and over a thousand employees, Ignazio Messina & C. S.p.A. has implemented an integrated Environmental, Occupational Health and Safety Management System in compliance with the international voluntary standards ISO 14001/2004 and BS OHSAS 18001/2007 at the Ronco port terminal and at the administrative and commercial offices of the company’s headquarters in Genoa and local offices situated throughout Italy.

Implementation of an integrated Environmental and Safety Management System and its subsequent certification enables the company to activate a process of constant self-checking relating to its performance. It also leads - through a dynamic approach to the problems identified - to continuous improvement in the conditions recorded and to a new definition of the objectives, following a review of the results obtained, thus increasing the company’s credibility with clients, institutional bodies and the local community.

The advantages associated with Environmental and Safety certification can be summarised as follows:

• promotion of industrial accident prevention, and continuous environmental performance improvement and protection of the health and safety of employees, third parties and the community;

• reduced environmental risks during the performance of the company’s activities;

• reduced management costs linked to the prevention of undesired events, such as industrial accidents and environmental impacts, both of which entail high economic and social costs;

• more effective management of mandatory legal requirements in the health, safety and environmental fields;

• the company’s credibility and visibility are guaranteed by voluntary certification, issued by a certification body accredited in accordance with international standards.

Contacts:
Ignazio Messina & C SpA
Daniel Bo
Mob: +39 3481 309352
daniel.bo@libero.it

RINA
Claudia Filippone
Mob: +39 3346 052004
claudia.filippone@rina.org
www.rina.org