Nippon Kaiji Kyokai
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| not for profit society | |
| Industry | Classification society |
| Founded | 1899 |
| Headquarters | Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan |
| Website | Nippon Kaiji Kyokai |
Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (一般財団法人日本海事協会 Ippan-zaidan-hōjin Nippon Kaiji Kyōkai?) is a ship classification society. It is also known by the brand name “ClassNK” or often in the industry as just “NK”. It is a not for profit society dedicated to ensuring the safety of life and property at sea, and the prevention of pollution of the marine environment.
The principal work of the Society's expert technical staff is to undertake surveys to ensure that the rules which it has developed, are applied to both newly built and existing ships in order to ensure the safety of these vessels. The rules cover not only hull structures, but also safety equipment, cargo handling gear, engines, machinery, and electrical and electronic systems among others.
By the end of December 2007, the Society had 6793 ships totaling 152.22 million gross tons under class. This figure represents approximately 20 percent of the world merchant fleet currently under class. Although based in Japan, ClassNK has worldwide representation through a network of exclusive surveyor offices. ClassNK's surveyors work in shipbuilding and repair yards and at ports across the world, wherever they may be called upon to examine the condition of a ship so that all of the Society's services are available worldwide. On November 15, 1999, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai celebrated the centenary of its foundation. On 28 May 2012, ClassNK officially announced that its register had surged past the 200 million gross ton mark becoming the world’s first class society in history to have more than 200 million gross tons on its register.
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Main Activities of ClassNK
ClassNK offers a broad range of services such as ship classification surveys, statutory surveys and certification on behalf of Flag States based on both international conventions, codes, national statutes, as well as ClassNK’s own rules and regulations. They also include assessment and certification services of safety management systems of ship management companies as well as the quality systems of ship builders and related manufacturers as an independent third party. ClassNK also offers appraisal, consulting and supervisory services on both marine and non-marine related projects.
- Approval of service providers, manufacturers and manufacturing methods
- Inspection of materials, equipment and similar products
- Survey and registration of ship installations, machinery and appliances of new ships
- Survey and registration of ships and offshore structures during construction
- Survey and inspection of ships, offshore structures and related installations in service
- Testing and inspection of material and other types of testing machines
Statutory services
- Activities concerned with the certification of freight containers
- Appraisal of grain loading
- Assignment of freeboard
- Assignment of load limits for cargo handling appliances
- Audit and certification of safety management systems based on the ISM Code
- Statutory survey and certification services based on SOLAS, ILLC, MARPOL and other international conventions and codes on behalf of flag state administrations
Assessment and registration services
- Assessment and registration of environmental management systems based on the ISO14001 standards
- Assessment and registration of quality systems based on the ISO9000 series of quality standards
Technical services
- Appraisal and certification of ships and offshore structures
- Commissioned testing, research and computer analysis services
- Inspection and certification of non-marine machinery and equipment
- Technical consulting regarding ships and offshore structures
- Tonnage measurement and certification services
ClassNK is one of the seven founding members of the International Association of Classification Societies, otherwise known as IACS.
