Hamburg, 10th September 2014. Classification society DNV GL recognised that Rickmers Shipmanagement complies with the highest safety and quality standards through the award of the "DNV GL Excellence 5 Stars" certificate. Torsten Schramm, COO Division Germany, Middle East & Asia at DNV GL presented the certificate to Björn Sprotte, Global Head of Maritime Services at Rickmers Shipmanagement at the DNV GL booth at SMM 2014 today.
Torsten Schramm, COO Division Germany, Middle East & Asia at DNV GL (far left) and Tor E. Svensen, CEO DNV GL Maritime (far right) present the “DNV GL Excellence 5 stars” certificate to Björn Sprotte, Global Head of Maritime Services at Rickmers Shipmanagement Dr. Ignace Van Meenen, CEO of the Rickmers Group, and Saurish Nandi, Global Head of Procurement, Rickmers Group with the whole team at the SMM.
“By meeting the 5 Star Excellence requirements Rickmers Shipmanagement demonstrates its strong commitment to maximising the sustainability, energy efficiency and safety of its ships. Sustained investment in state of the art technology and advanced management systems make the company one of the most reliable players in the industry today and give it a competitive edge. We look forward to continuing on our work with Rickmers Shipmanagement in the future”, said Torsten Schramm. “Rickmers Shipmanagement is one of only 10 companies to have achieved DNV GL 5 Star Excellence, placing it in truly elite company.”
Rickmers Shipmanagement fulfils 11 requirements in the following categories: Management Systems, Safety & Security, Environment & Efficiency, Operation & Comfort. These include good port state control statistics and the use of DNV GL’s Emergency Response Service for their fleet. Optional requirements of the certification standard include the use of DNV GL’s ship management software, developing an inventory of hazardous materials for ship recycling and undertaking a practical security exercise for the crew, guided by professional security experts from DNV GL Maritime Academy. The "5 stars" represent the implementation of an integrated management system for compliance with ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISM-/ISPS-Code, MLC,2006 and ISO 50001.
About DNV GL Excellence
International standards and management systems seek to continuously optimise and control the safety, environmental impact and operational processes of ships. The “DNV GL Excellence” Certification documents the commitment of our customer to comply with a broad range of these standards. “DNV GL Excellence” and “DNV GL Excellence - 5 Stars” provide independent third-party proof of a voluntary commitment to that continuous improvement of quality, sustainability, safety, security and social responsibility standards.
“DNV GL Excellence” certification can be obtained by meeting at least 10 requirements in the categories Management Systems, Safety & Security, Environment & Efficiency, Operation & Comfort. This comprises of a mixture of mandatory and optional requirements, for example a certified Energy Efficiency Management System (ISO norm 50001) or the use of DNV GL Ship Management Software Systems. Meeting the demands of five of seven Management Systems (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 50001, OHSAS 18001, ISM -and ISPS-Code and MLC,2006), qualifies ship owners to be certified “DNV GL Excellence - 5 Stars”.
The “DNV GL Excellence” certification provides proof of reliability in ship operation and documents above average safety and quality standards to customers and stake holders. Continued compliance with the highest quality standards is verified every three years in combination with periodical ISM and ISO company audits.