Det Norske Veritas (DNV) a leading international provider of services for managing risk has announced it will open a series of new and enhanced office locations throughout the Middle East and India, due to escalating revenues which are estimated to reach US$ 45 million by the end of 2006.
DNV have already planned for new and extended offices in Tehran, Sohar (Oman), Abu Dhabi and Visakhapatnam in India to become effective by 2007. This is in addition to new and enlarged offices opened so far this year in Mumbai, Doha, Fujairah and later this month, DNV will open their new flagship office in Dubai. In total DNV will have 26 offices throughout the region in UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Iran, India and Sri Lanka.
Eivind Grostad, Senior Vice President & Regional Manager, DNV Middle East & India, commented, “Our strategy for growth has been underpinned by constantly reviewing and implementing our own rigorous quality standards. Our organisational structure and sound financial procedures support that ethos. Our decision never to compromise on quality and safety has helped to build DNV in to a reputable world class organisation.”
Established in 1864, and headquartered in Oslo, Norway, DNV is an independent foundation with a mission to safeguard life, property and the environment. With 300 office locations worldwide and over 6,000 employees, DNV competes in multiple industries. However the company focuses on four major industries where they have a strong market presence, maritime, oil & gas, process and transportation, which covers rail, automotive and aviation.
Indeed it is the maritime industry that is fuelling the growth in DNV’s regional expansion plans. They have secured more than 50 per cent of all new shipbuilding contracts for owners from within the region over the last three years and so far this year, they have delivered 14 vessels with a combined dead-weight tonnage (DWT) of 1.24 million. Projections for 2007 and 2008 indicate a further 79 vessels with 6.6 million DWT will be delivered to owners with DNV class.
Additionally they are also working with ten regional shipyards and in excess of 60 vessels with DNV class are currently on order, from local, regional and international owners. As a consequence, business projections for 2010 are equally impressive with the company’s headcount increasing by over 60 per cent whilst revenues sail past the US$ 80 million mark.
“We have grown rapidly over the past six years and with our current orders and those secured for next year and 2008, we are confident that our projections for 2010 are both realistic and achievable,” stated Grostad.
DNV is one of the world's leading classification societies, and helps the maritime industry manage risk in all phases of a ship’s life, through ship classification, statutory certification, fuel testing and a range of technical, business risk, financial and competency related services. They also operate a worldwide network of survey stations and are authorised by more than 120 flag administrations to carry out surveys and, in most cases, issue statutory certificates on their behalf.
“We currently classify more than 5,200 ships totaling more than 112 million gross registered tonnage (GRT). That represents more than 15 per cent of the world's current fleet in terms of weight,” claimed Grostad.
One invaluable feature of DNV’s services is the DNV Exchange, which is a maritime interface for clients to acquire both fully updated and specific information relative to their business. With daily updates, the on-line service provides vessel specific survey status, documents and other services, publications and tools.
Dr. Lars Brockoff, Manager for Certification in the Gulf Region added, “DNV has also certified, Management System Certifications for more than 60.000 companies round the world including a large and growing number of companies in the Gulf.”
DNV offers a comprehensive range of risk management services including certification, consultation, maritime, technology services, research and software.
For more information about the full range of risk management services available from DNV, please visit, www.dnv.com
