GL Held Mexican Committee Meeting

Classification society Germanischer Lloyd (GL) recently held its Mexican Committee Meeting in Mexico City. It was chaired by the President of the Mexican Committee, Mr. Juan Pablo Vega, the owner of Naviera Integral, one of GL’s longstanding clients in Mexico.

The meeting, which was attended by industry stakeholders, clients and GL experts, examined some of the maritime industry’s most pressing topics, including the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006, retrofitting existing vessels to enhance performance, as well as the training and operational requirements for Dynamic Positioning (DP) systems in the offshore industry.

In the first presentation Mr Ocejo Rodríguez, Technical Director of TMM Transportation Maritima Mexicana, offered an industry perspective on the forthcoming MLC 2006. Mr Rodríguez outlined how the convention will require all international merchant ships of 500 gross tonnage or more to carry a Maritime Labour Certificate and a Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance on board. These will have to document the ships’ compliance with the national regulations of the flag state. Mr Hernández Ortega, surveyor of the GL site office in Ciudad del Carmen, suggested ways to ensure shipowners are best positioned in preparation for the regulation. To assist shipowners, who operate vessels under a Flag, that has not yet ratified the MLC 2006, GL has developed a Certification Standard to safeguard shipowners against Article V/7 of the MLC 2006. The voluntary certification scheme leads to the issuance of a Statement of Compliance (SoC) following a shipboard inspection.

Christian von Oldershausen, Chief Commercial Officer of GL’s Maritime Services, looked at the challenge facing the existing fleet in the maritime industry. Existing vessels that are only two to five years old are struggling to compete with optimised newbuilds in terms of energy efficiency, however, retrofitting solutions offered enormous potential in reducing costs and enhancing the performance of these vessels, he explained. There were many different approaches which could be taken by shipowners to ensure their fleets’ economic profitability, he noted. GL has recently published a retrofitting manual which offers an overview of the available measures, helping to find the most appropriate retrofit solution for an individual vessel and its specific modernisation needs.

The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most active oil and gas producing regions in the world. Dynamic Positioning (DP) is one of the key technologies that is enabling vessels to perform reliably as wells are being dug in deeper and deeper water. DP allows a vessel to maintain its position and heading automatically by using her own propellers and thrusters through the use of a computer control system. Mr Gregory Wagner, Project Operations Manager for Subsea7, examined the need for DP from the operators’ perspective and gave a view on protecting the client’s bottom line through DP Assurance. Given the advance of ships into ever deeper waters the need for precision at sea became an increasingly relevant issue, he argued. Mr Eckhard Hinrichsen, Country Manager at GL Noble Denton Mexico, explained how technologies such as DP have become this important for the maritime industry and demonstrated the practical application of DP as well as the benefits of its use.

The Committee Meeting was concluded by a dinner which offered not only a forum for networking but also the opportunity to introduce Mr Javier Ostos as GL’s new Business Development Manager for Mexico. Mr Ostos joined GL’s Maritime Services from GL Noble Denton in Mexico.

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GL Group, July 5, 2013