Tor Svensen News

It’s no coincidence that Class standard bearer DNV GL’s incoming group chief exec, Remi Eriksen, is a former telecoms engineer who knows his way around Houston (IT) and Singapore (yards). After all, the satellite communications industry understands shipping. The reverse should also be true. Speaking ahead of his first day as CEO, Eriksen describes a future of “fast ships and slow growth” — not bandwidth growth, mind you. Satellite operators, network providers and other vendors are eying broadband for Big Data transfers.

DNV GL Group has appointed Tor Svensen as Group Executive Vice President. Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen will succeed Tor Svensen as Chief Executive Officer of its Maritime business area. Both will report to the incoming Group President & CEO Remi Eriksen, starting August 1, 2015. Ørbeck-Nilssen has served as COO and Senior Vice President of DNV GL’s Maritime business area since 2013. He will now take on the new role as CEO and continue to operate out of the maritime headquarter in Hamburg, Germany. Tor E. Svensen has been the CEO and President of DNV GL - Maritime since 2003. In his new role as Group EVP he will support the Group President & CEO Remi Eriksen with particular focus on developing customer relationships and strategic projects for the DNV GL Group.

High ranking state officials from Norway met with the senior management team at DNV GL’s maritime headquarters in Hamburg today. Tor Svensen, CEO, Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, COO,  and Torsten Schramm, President of DNV GL – Maritime, shared the classification society’s experiences with liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a fuel for shipping with Norwegian State Secretary Dilek Ayhan and spoke about the potential LNG may have for the future of the global maritime industry. The visit took place…

“Ships and offshore structures are becoming more and more interconnected,” said Tor Svensen, CEO DNV GL - Maritime, when taking the stage at this year’s CMA (Connecticut Maritime Association) event in Stamford, CT. Cybersecurity in the maritime and offshore industry was also up for discussion at this year’s CMA Shipping event during a session with the US Coast Guard, ship owners and class representatives. In the past, critical network segments onboard vessels used to be kept isolated. This has changed. “This is a weak spot,” said Svensen.

Europe has a major role to play in driving the maritime industry forward, said Tor Svensen, CEO of DNV GL – Maritime, in his keynote speech on innovation at the European Shipping Week in Brussels. Svensen outlined three priority areas that will drive shipping in the decades to come: sustainability and environmentally friendly technologies, big data and connected ship solutions as well as a new safety mindset across the whole maritime industry in order to improve its safety track record. “Today, 70 percent of the world’s fleet is controlled from Europe.

The race is on in global maritime circles to be the “world’s first” in every aspect of environmental friendliness, particularly in regards to the incorporation of LNG as fuel onboard commercial ships. There was yet another “world first” today in South Korea at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan when United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) named the first ever LNG-ready ultra large container vessel  MV Sajir, the first vessel in UASC’s current 17-ship “eco-efficient” newbuilding program, comprising 17 of the world’s most eco-efficient vessels.

Wednesday at the SMM trade fair in Hamburg, DNV GL presented Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) with an Approval in Principle (AIP), recognizing the technical feasibility of the LNG fuel system design for the A14 and A18 series of container vessels. Tor Svensen, CEO of DNV GL Maritime, made the presentation to Oi Hyun Kim, CEO and COO of HHI’s Shipbuilding Division, and Waleed Al Dawood, COO of United Arab Shipping Company, in the presence of His Excellency Sheikh Ali Bin Jassim Al Thani, UASC Board Member.

Ship classification society risk and sustainability service provider DNV GL briefed the press today on the future of shipping at an event at the Posidonia exhibition in Greece. Tor Svensen, CEO, DNV GL Maritime, examined the potential and the challenges of shipping’s increasing use of connected systems to improve safety and efficiency. This new paradigm requires a different approach to testing and certification, to ensure safety and reliability while retaining a level competitive playing field. Tor Svensen presented DNV GL’s recently released report: “The Future of Shipping”. The report maps out six pathways to a future for the industry which is safer and more sustainable: safe operations of ships…

The conference committee of the 20th annual Hellenic-American and Norwegian-American Chambers of Commerce conference, often called the New York Shipping Conference, announced today the luncheon keynote speakers will be and George Wells of Cargill and Peter Georgiopoulos. Entitled “Today’s Vision- Tomorrow’s Reality”, the conference will present a Macro Shipping and Economic Overview, a look at Shipping 2020, the challenges of balancing safety, regulatory compliance and costs, the current outlook and sources of dry bulk demand and supply…

Examining areas of change and growth in shipping is the focus of the 20th annual Hellenic-American and Norwegian-American Chambers of Commerce conference, often called the New York Shipping Conference. Entitled “Today’s Vision- Tomorrow’s Reality”, the conference will present a Macro Shipping and Economic Overview, a look at Shipping 2020, the challenges of balancing safety, regulatory compliance and costs, the current outlook and sources of dry bulk demand and supply, sourcing ship finance, and the commercial impacts of decisions regarding trade routes, chartering and futures.

Increased focus on ship safety is DNV’s main priority when identifying critical issues in shipping. An extended focus on risk-based rules, safety barriers and identifying high-risk areas are means to enhance safer shipping. “Together with GL, we will have the power to take the lead in heading for these targets,” said Tor Svensen, Chief Operating Officer Asia Pacific and President DNV Maritime and Oil & Gas. The merger between DNV and GL was announced in December last year. Through the power of 17…

DNV’s Shipping 2020 scenario explores technology uptake based on market forces, regulatory changes, fuel prices, technology costs & specific shipowner requirements. Based on expected market developments, regulatory changes, fuel prices, cost and availability of new technology and specific shipowner requirements, the model explores the technologies with the best payoff that will also ensure compliance with the relevant environmental requirements. Economic power is shifting to Asia, impacting trade routes and the demand for vessels.

A collaboration between APL, Hyundai Heavy Industries and DNV will make APL's new ships more fuel-efficient. The new hull design will will make APL’s 10 new ultra large container ships some 20 per cent more fuel efficient per TEU compared with existing designs says DNV. The design has been optimized for an operating profile along the Far East to Europe trade route involving nine speed and draught combinations. The installed propulsive power could be reduced by about 16 per cent compared to the initial hullform optimized for one draft & speed condition.

The results show that high fuel costs will result in a drive towards more energy efficient ships ahead of the EEDI regulatory timeframe. Fuel choices up to 2020 will be driven by the time spent in an Emissions Control Area (ECA), but distillate is a more likely option than scrubbers for most ships towards 2020. By 2020, it is expected that new tankers, bulkers and container vessels will be up to 30 per cent more energy efficient than today’s newbuildings. DNV predicts that one-third of the reductions will be cost effective for shipowners.

Shipowners can reduce air emissions up to 15% from ships, using available technology on today’s ships, according to Tor Svensen, COO of DNV Maritime, without incurring additional costs. Speaking in the day before the start of NorShipping 2009, Svensen is urging shipowners to thoroughly review all aspects of their operation in order to reduce emissions and to save money. “There is no reason to wait … in fact, we cannot wait,” he said. DNV contends that ships from all market segments can reduce their air emissions by carefully analyzing and optimizing a number of individual operations, such as optimizing engine performance, optimizing  trim for all drafts and speeds and the propulsion system efficiency and  improving voyage management .

Changes in the international political and economic climate will add new urgency to the theme of the Shiprepair & Conversion 2001 conference in London in November — gaining the edge in a competitive global industry. Marking the 10th anniversary of the event, the conference takes place alongside the industry's leading exhibition in the Grand Hall, Olympia, on November 28-29. A new pick-and-mix booking format offers cut-price entry to one or more of the four morning and afternoon sessions — giving delegates, exhibitors and visitors more scope to take part in both the conference and trade show, which will feature a record 360 exhibitors.

The role of vessel classification societies continues to change dramatically. As the role and relevance of class is hotly debated, MR/EN picked the brains of the industry's major classification societies to analyze both their individual and collective future. If class is to remain relevant, it must remake itself for the modern world, says ABS president and CEO Robert D. Somerville. He recently told delegates to the World Maritime Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia that "self regulation will continue to provide an effective method for establishing and enforcing standards only if all elements of the industry recognize that substantive overhaul is needed." Somerville highlighted the remarkable…

DNV is now fully authorized to act as an autonomous certification body on behalf of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). Today, DNV, as the first non-US classification society, signed the Alternate Compliance Program agreement with the USCG. The Coast Guard delegation to DNV is the authority to act on behalf of the U.S. Coast Guard under the Alternate Compliance Program – ACP. ACP is a significant delegation granted to a class society after it has attained authorization for the issuance of a broad range of international convention certificates and demonstrated its professional plan review and survey capabilities to the satisfaction of the USCG. Most of these authorizations to issue statutory certificates on behalf of the USCG were granted in the summer of 2000.

Globalization of shipping will be the theme of the 11th annual Hellenic-American and Norwegian-American annual conference. Entitled “Shipping without Borders: Has National Identity Become Irrelevant?”, the conference will be held on Thursday, February 10th at the New York Helmsley Hotel starting at 0815 with conference registration.. The conference will explore developments and shifts in the international maritime community, and how they relate to doing business in America. Comparative Greek and Norwegian perspectives on identity…

The role of vessel classification societies continues to change dramatically. As the role and relevance of class is hotly debated, MR/EN picked the brains of the industry's major classification societies to analyze both their individual and collective future. If class is to remain relevant, it must remake itself for the modern world, says ABS president and CEO Robert D. Somerville. He recently told delegates to the World Maritime Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia that "self regulation will continue to provide an effective method for establishing and enforcing standards only if all elements of the industry recognize that substantive overhaul is needed." Somerville highlighted the remarkable…

Rapid-fire change is the only thing that stays the same in today's increasingly regulation-heavy, litigious maritime industry. Norway's Det Norske Veritas is there to help smooth out the curves. It is no overstatement to say that the marine business is undergoing one of the most dramatic wholesale changes in a generation. With political pressure mounting from disasters such as Prestige and security concerns heightened due to the threat of terrorism, no stone has been left unturned. Classification societies in particular are under increasing pressure to perform, as they are often the first ones in the eye of the maelstrom of public opinion when an accident occurs. Norway's Det Norske Veritas is one of the world's leading classification societies.