Int’l Register of Shipping Appoints Nassif

International Register of Shipping (IRS), an independent classification society, appointed Said Nassif as managing director as incumbent Bijimon Punnoose is promoted to the management committee.

This new promotion of Punnoose will now allow him to develop global strategy for IRS. Incorporated within this role will be business development for the Americas. The appointments take immediate effect.

After his sea career, Nassif joined the Canadian government as a marine surveyor, rose through the ranks and held several management positions including Director Marine Security where he was responsible for the promotion and enforcement of policies, standards and regulations to improve security in the maritime sector. Additionally, he acted as professor and instructor in safety, security and protection in multimodal transportation.

Nassif brings a wealth of experience to IRS. He has helped develop and lead a number of large and complex projects in the sectors of supply chain management, logistics and marine transportation.

Nassif has received both Bachelor in Maritime Transportation and Master of Business Administration degrees. Additional to his First Class Marine Engineer qualification, he possesses certifications in freight forwarding, agency and ship brokering and is certified as an anti-terrorism specialist.

Fluent in English, French and Arabic, Nassif, who is a Canadian national, has extensive experience of working with different international bodies and he maintains a strong partnership with international bodies, such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Department of Homeland Security (USA), members of Port State Control, the marine industries and associations, among others.

“We are delighted to appoint Said as managing director,” said Julian Padilla, chairman of IRS. “He brings a raft of experience to IRS and we believe he will  help us move towards further success in the future.”

He continued: “We expect to significantly increase our quality tonnage levels over the coming years and we see this growth will come from both quality new buildings and from existing ships. It will be our international growth that will strengthen the organisation’s global brand."

“I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank Bijimon for his tremendous efforts as managing director,” Padilla added.