Changes in GL’s Executive Board

Rainer Schöndube, Member of the Executive Board at Germanischer Lloyd AG, will conclude his tenure at the classification society based in Hamburg on 30 September 2007. Over 200 guests came to his farewell at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hamburg. At the beginning of Schöndube's career, in 1980, Germanischer Lloyd had 535 employees. Today, over 4,100 employees in over 76 countries work for the classification society. During this period Germanischer Lloyd's newbuilding orderbook rose from 1.1 million GT to over 24 million GT. The Fleet in Service which Germanischer Lloyd monitors has grown since 1980 from 16.5 million GT to over 70 million GT. The number of ships under regular supervision has nearly doubled, and currently totals more than 6,300 units. Germanischer Lloyd is the market leader in the classification of containerships and multi-purpose units. It has also had considerable success on the market with the classification of tanker and bulk carrier newbuildings. Some of the milestones in Rainer Schöndube's career include the incorporation of the Deutsche Schiffs-Revision und Klassifikation (DSRK), the East German classification society in 1990/1991, the EU class directive of 1994 and the resulting modernization process of the society - from being similar to an administration to a modern technical service company. In addition to the extension of the international network of experts and authorities, and the establishment of the Asia Pacific Division in 1998, other milestones include the development of the "Industrial Services" business segment, the successful prevention of a hostile takeover and the planned construction of new GL headquarters in Hamburg's "Hafencity". Schöndube will remain affiliated with Germanischer Lloyd as an external advisor. After his retirement, the Executive Board of Germanischer Lloyd will consist of Dr. Hermann J. Klein and Dr. Joachim Segatz.