ClassNK Register Surpasses 150 mgt Mark

Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, also known as ClassNK, announced that the total tonnage of the ships on its register surpassed the 150 million gross ton mark for the first time ever this month. This is the first time that any ship classification society has attained this mark. The Classification Committee officially confirmed that the Society had 6,729 ships with a total of 150,048,643 gross tons on its register as of the end of August 2007. The register saw a net increase of 916,304 gross tons for the month, resulting in the total gross tonnage under NK class surpassing the 150 million mark for the first time ever. The NK register has also benefited from the continued robust buoyancy of the global newbuilding market, which, combined with the recent trend towards the construction of ever-bigger ships, has encouraged further demand by shipowners for classification related services. As a result, some 10 million gross tons of newbuilding tonnage have already been added to the ClassNK register since the first of the year.