Leading classification society ClassNK (Chairman and President: Noboru Ueda) announced that its register topped 230 million gross tons for the first time at the end November 2014. The announcement was made following a meeting of the Society’s Classification Committee, which certified that the NK Register listed 8,826 vessels totaling 231.34 million gross tons at the end of November 2014.

As ClassNK finished 2013 with some 220.9 million gross tons on its register, the achievement means that ClassNK has added a net total of more than 10 million gross tons to its register in the first 11 months of the year, continuing the leading classification society’s stunning growth over the past several years. Continuing recent trends for the Society, transfers of vessels from other classification societies accounted for more than 1/3rd of the vessels joining the NK Register, setting a new record for the Society.

Speaking on the occasion, ClassNK Chairman and President Noboru Ueda said: “In addition to our growth in Europe, which has seen European shipping companies account for more than half the vessel’s transferred to our register so far this year, in 2014 we have also welcomed our first US-flagged vessels, as well as many newbuildings from South America and other new markets for ClassNK around the world. The continued growth of our register despite the recent downturn in the market reflects the increasingly global scope of our activities, and our unmatched commitment to providing the best classification services to owners, operators, shipyards and designers around the world.”