Flagship hoists global sails
While the rest of the world struggles to avoid the slipstream of an American recession, COSCO, one of China’s flagship enterprises, is striving to be a world leader in shipping and logistical services. In an exclusive interview with DNV Forum, Captain Wei Jiafu, the company’s president and CEO, here shares his thoughts about the current status of the shipping industry and the outlook for the future.
Entrepreneurial Enterprise
Sometimes dealing with realities – economic uncertainty, ever-increasing competition, political instability – compels a company leader to take a chance.
Banking in the non-stop society
The 24-hour society is here and with it non-stop banking, especially on the Internet. EDB Teamco AS, a specialist in advanced IT operations and services, attacks the challenges of running mission-critical banking systems round-the-clock with the help of DNV Consulting.
Applying the gas on the management highway
For Hydro Gas & Chemicals, the starting point for providing optimal business performance is sound management systems. The company recently achieved a first for its industry, having gained certification for its integrated management of quality assurance, safety and environmental awareness from Det Norske Veritas.
Reaching the breaking point
The IMO does not have any straightforward mandate to solve the environmental problems caused by the recycling of ships. Nonetheless, IMO Secretary General William A. O’Neil is worried about the problems related to a ship’s last phase. ‘Our Organisation has influence, and this will be used to prevent marine pollution,’ he points out.
‘No compromise’ on ship safety
‘We must not choose construction materials solely from an environmental point of view and end up with poorly constructed ships. The ship’s quality throughout its lifetime must be given priority over all other requirements.’
Coping with a corporate culture clash
For business mergers to succeed, handling culture differences has become an important factor. Merger of the American oil majors Chevron and Phillips’ chemical operations into the CPChem Company (Chevron Phillips Chemical Company) had to take these concerns into consideration when implementing a new Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) management system.
Germany’s nuclear safety stimulates reaction
Nuclear power plants and those who run them are under constant pressure from politicians, regulators and public opinion to prove that they operate under safe conditions. Now DNV has become active in enhancing safety for Germany’s nuclear power industry.
Survival of the fittest
DNV board member Linda Adamany is chief executive of BP Shipping. BP has a major newbuilding programme under way, which it sees as essential to bolstering its present fleet of tankers; it also relies extensively on voyage or time-chartered vessels, all of which must meet the company’s stringent quality standards.
Solar Turbines: Turning the wheels of industry
In 1992, Solar Turbines in San Diego became one of the first companies in the U.S. to be certified to the international quality standard ISO 9000. Six years later it received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
Greeks lead the way in newbuilding contracts
A boom in new vessel contracts over the past two years has put Greek shipowners in first place for worldwide newbuildings. Are they now vulnerable to a falling market?
An industrial prophet
Visionary Norwegian shipowner Lauritz Eidesvik is looking to the future by ordering – in partnership with Norwegian state oil company Statoil – the world’s first gas-fuelled supply vessels, posing a bold challenge to traditional diesel propulsion systems.
Is ISO 9001:2000 green and safe?
Experience has now been accumulated in auditing to the 2000 version of ISO 9001 and it is evident that the latest revision presents a better structure and business logic to quality systems auditors and implementing organisations. But, in these days of integration, does it relate to the requirements of the standard ISO 14001 for environmental management systems (EMS), and the quasi-standard OHSAS 18001 for health and safety management systems (HSMS)?