As the largest quality registry in the world, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Registry works with International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) members to ensure excellent service and support.
“We are responsible for having technical expertise for every vessel in the RMI fleet,” said Dave Wamsley, Senior Vice President, Technical, International Registries, Inc. and its affiliates (IRI) which provides administrative and technical support to the RMI Maritime and Corporate Registries. “To provide the best service, we rely on Classification Societies (Class) as a critical resource for technical issues,” he continued.
Those relationships, built upon trust and many successful projects over the years, have become increasingly important as the industry has ventured into alternative energies, new ship designs, and innovative sustainability solutions.
“As a flag State, we appreciate when Class brings us in at the beginning phase of a research and development project,” noted Simon Bonnett, Chief Maritime Officer, who previously served as IRI’s Senior Vice President, Technical. “Our technical experts can provide flag’s perspective from the beginning, hopefully avoiding any regulatory or compliance surprises in the later stages of a project.”
Although IRI’s technical team members continued to work closely with Class virtually during the pandemic, IRI has jumped back into in-person visits and meetings all around the world to strengthen those critical relationships now that travel restrictions have relaxed.
In November 2022, IRI’s President Bill Gallagher; Theo Xenakoudis, Chief Commercial Officer, Managing Director – Piraeus; Annie Ng, Head of Asia and the Vancouver office; and Okamoto Masaharu, Representative based in Tokyo, visited the Class NK headquarters in Tokyo for meetings with senior leadership. Class NK then visited IRI’s Reston Headquarters for continued discussions and meetings. John Gallagher, Senior Vice President, Client Relations, met with ABS in Houston, Texas along with several IRI technical team members to discuss cooperation on recent projects. Simon Bonnett, based in London, attended the Technical Committee meetings at Lloyd’s Register in the United Kingdom, providing flag perspective and cooperation on key items related to decarbonization and other technical trends.
In December, Dave Wamsley hosted the Annual Classification Society Consultative Committee (CSCC) meeting in Annapolis, Maryland. Class and RMI Registry representatives attended both in-person and virtually. The meeting focused on Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan, Part III submissions, the International Air Pollution Prevention Certificate, and updates on RMI Maritime Administrator initiatives.
“Working together allows both flag and Class to provide better technical service and expertise to our clients,” noted Theo Xenakoudis, who provided an in-person RMI Registry update during the CSCC meeting. “There’s never been a time where cooperation has been more critical to the future success of the industry,” he continued. “In order to provide clients with the information and resources to make informed decisions about their future, we must have meaningful dialogue, productive working groups, and shared technical expertise with Class,” concluded Theo Xenakoudis.
