RINA, China Class Team on Yard Quality

Italian classification society and certification group RINA and the China Classification Society (CCS) have joined forces to deliver quality management system expertise to small and medium-size Chinese shipyards which intend to build ships for international trade.

The two class societies have set up a joint venture company, Yizhong Marine Technical Services, based in Shanghai. It will assist between five and ten yards in its first year. The yards, suitable for building ships up to 50,000 dwt, are those which currently build only to internal Chinese standards but which wish to enter the international shipbuilding market.

Yizhong will train the management and help them build and run a complete quality management system capable of building ships to international classed standards.

Ugo Salerno, ceo of RINA, says, "Shipyard quality is very much in focus today. No class or owner supervision team can guarantee a good ship if the yard building it does not have a satisfactory quality system in place to cover all its production. Our RINA Industry subsidiary has wide experience with industrial quality management systems, and can, working with CCS, deliver the expertise which will enable these yards to upgrade their production controls to international standards."

Li Kejun, Chairman and President of CCS, says, "There is enormous potential in China for building smaller ships, and the global market is likely to need those. Working with RINA we can help deliver the expertise the yards need, which will benefit public interests and owners who want to contract ships there."

The first yards for assistance have been identified and it is expected to have systems in place in at least five yards within one year. Salerno says, "We see this as the first step in developing wider services within China. We already have an extensive industrial certification and expertise-sharing program in India, and we hope to share that experience with growing businesses in China. CCS is a good partner, bringing its own expertise and knowledge of the local systems to the table, and I am confident we shall soon be able to announce further joint services in China."