Leading Classification Society ClassNK held the first ever PrimeManagement Seminar in Singapore on 2 February 2011. The event held at the Suntec Singapore exhibition center to showcase its new suite of services of the same name, drew more than 120 attendees from Southeast Asia and Japan.

PrimeManagement is ClassNK’s total management certification service package, created to help maritime companies around the world achieve high quality management systems that effectively address the various challenges they face in an ever-changing industry. As part of this package, ClassNK offers various certification services that are acclaimed internationally for their high quality. These services are grouped under three categories: Safety & Environment, Education & Training and Working Conditions and cover a wide range from certification of recruitment and placement service providers to NK-run training courses for maritime instructors.

The seminar began with an opening address by ClassNK Executive Vice President, Koichi Fujiwara, and went on to present the current situation surrounding the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 and ECDIS Competence requirements of the amended Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping Convention and Code. Each topic proved to be of great interest to those in attendance and generated lively question and answer sessions.  In the afternoon seminar, ClassNK gave a demonstration and explanation of the ECDIS simulation system with the cooperation of Furuno Electric Co., Ltd., Japan Marine Science Inc., Japan Radio Co. Ltd., and Tokyo Keiki Inc, all leading companies in their respective fields.  The Society also set up a booth in order to respond to any further questions the attendees still had and deepen the maritime community’s understanding of the many merits of PrimeManagement.

The Society intends to build on the success of this seminar and the interest it generated in, among others, crew competency certification by holding similar events at various locations around the world.