2020 brought about an unprecedented situation in the form of the pandemic. Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) responded swiftly by taking a pragmatic and practical approach in maintaining its services to its clients during this period of global restriction in population movement to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
IRClass Executive Chairman Mr Arun Sharma, as Chairman of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), led the organisation’s rapid response to assist the industry during the lockdown period. The first wave of mitigative measures which included maintaining the validity of certificates and allowing the sharing of IACS members’ exclusive surveyors, were quickly implemented to allow ships to continue operations and hence, facilitating trade.
During his tenure as IACS Chairman, Mr. Sharma started an initiative to encourage class to engage more deeply and frequently with industry partners through a structured programme of engagement. A data driven policy was another initiative embarked upon so that decisions within IACS could be made on objectively justified and scientifically evidenced positions.
2020 also marked IRClass' 10 years as an IACS member. During its membership, IRClass participated in various important IACS bodies and has chaired the IACS group on Quality Policy, the Safety Panel, the Steering Committee on Strategy and Expert Group on Formal Safety Assessment. Further IRClass also chaired the General Policy Group (GPG) which is the highest technical body in IACS while making regular contributions in various panels and expert groups. With rapid advancement in technologies and ever-changing regulatory requirements, the role of class is also changing. Expanding class society’s verification fields into the new and emerging areas of data quality assurance is another important aspect which IRClass will continue to champion through its membership of IACS. IRClass intends to further strengthen the data driven policy initiatives taken by IACS.
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Xinde Marine News.
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