RINA Continues Steady Growth
Italy-based classification-society RINA has reported continuing growth in both turnover and returns for 2008. Turnover for the 2008 year was $252.2m, up 17 per cent on 2007, and EBITDA was $41.2m, up 18 per cent on the 2007 financial year. Ugo Salerno, ceo of RINA said, "2008 was a year of careful scrutiny of our services and client base to ensure that we are doing the right things, for the world we live in, for our clients and for ourselves. It was also a year for consolidation and careful attention to detail within the group, to ensure that we are doing things right. We had to consolidate the companies acquired in 2007, control costs and work hard to get the right people with the right skills and the right management support into the right places around the world.
Flag of Convenience Embraces UAE's Decision To Crack Down on Corruption
A leading maritime Flag of Convenience (FOC) has welcomed the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) decision to clamp down on the industry and has called for more regular sanctions against widespread corruption and underperformance. Clay Maitland, managing partner of International Registries Inc (IRI), which manages the Marshall Islands FOC and managed the Liberian FOC until last year, said some FOC's habitually ignored their responsibilities for safety and were riddled with corruption. "Is there some way (FOC) registries can be called to book?" asked Maitland. "There should be sanctions against them. Ship operators pay many millions of dollars each year to fly FOC flags such as those of Liberia and Panama over their ships…
