Bureau Veritas fleet tops 8,000 ships

Paris-listed classification society Bureau Veritas in April passed 8,000 ships in its classed fleet following the delivery of the high-speed passenger ferry Superstar to Tallink.

The BV-classed fleet in April stood at 8,015 ships totaling 60.2 million gross tons. So far this year 305 ships aggregating more than 2.7 million gt have joined the register, against 215 ships totaling 800,000 gt leaving the class.

The latest fleet milestone follows a 19 percent jump in net profit for 2007 of 193.2 million euros ($285 million). Revenue for the year was 2.1 billion euros ($4 billion), up 12 percent on 2006.

Bureau Veritas' marine division posted revenue of 247.2 million euros ($364 million), up 18.3 percent year on year, and operating profit of 71 million euros ($105 million), 39.2 percent higher.

We have experienced strong growth during 2007 across the group, and the marine division put in a very strong performance, said Bernard Anne, Bureau Veritas' managing director of the marine division.

This year will bring new challenges, in regulation, in getting cleaner, and in helping technical development of emerging shipyards in Asia. Bureau Veritas will be focusing its world leading resources on all three areas and we expect another successful year.

Source: American Shipper