Explaining the move by French classification society Bureau Veritas to acquire Germanischer Lloyd the managing director of its marine division said a BV/GL alliance would have the critical mass to successfully survive any economic downturn. Bernard Anne said such an alliance would be number one in ship classification in terms of numbers of vessels, order-book size, and global revenue, and number three or four in terms of tonnage in class.
Speaking at 10th annual Bureau Veritas Beaujolais Nouveau reception at Trinity House in London last week, he added that, within ten years, the new grouping would have a 20% share of the market in China, arguably the world’s largest shipbuilding nation, and 13% of the world’s largest shipping market, Greece.
BV saw its net sales grow by 15% in the 12 months ending June this year its classed fleet increase to over 53.8m gross tons and more than 7,400 ships. Mr Anne said, “Our group is doubling in size every five years, and I am confident we will reach over 1.8 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in turnover by the end of the year. We shall soon be larger than any two or three other classification and certification bodies put together.”
Mr Anne said, “By the end of the year, we expect to be up towards 55m gross tons. Our order-book is 17.4m gross tons, comprising nearly 1,300 ships, and our new orders this year to date total over 8.2m gross tons, representing a market share of over eleven per cent, with 640 vessels under construction. By the end of the year, we expect to see an increase in that figure to 9m gross tons.”