Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) has opened a Design and Newbuilding Support Centre in the Republic of Korea.

The Centre has been established in line with the RS strategic global expansion plans. It will facilitate further development of RS services in the region. The main objectives of the newly established office are:

- to foster closer contacts with clients and partners within one time zone;
- to provide technical support to RS surveyors involved in newbuilding projects at Korean yards,
- to render the full range of RS services in newbuilding for Korean market, including design review, surveys of ships during construction, certification of marine equipment,
- to liaise and hold joint seminars with representatives of the Korean maritime industry.

The first project of the new Centre is supervision during construction of two LNG carriers for JSC “Sovcomflot” under the recent agreement with STX Offshore & Shipbuilding shipyard (South Korea). Other projects are in the pipeline.

The official opening ceremony and evening reception took place on 7 March 2012 in Busan. The ceremony was attended by senior maritime executives, includingMr.Nikolai Grigoriev, Director of Global Shipping & Logistics of Gazprom Global LNG; Mr. Viktor Rokhlin, advisor of JSC “Sovcomflot” Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Hwanag Byung Hyun, Senior Executive Vice President STX; Mr. Chullyun Kim Executive Vice President Samsung Heavy Industries; Executive Vice President Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Yong-Seop Han, Executive Director Hyundai Heavy Industires G. J. Ha; Senior Manager Hyundai Mipo Dockyard C. H. Song; President of SPP Shipbuilding Kwak Han Jung, Sales Director Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Jy Kim; President of Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Byun Moon Sung; Executive Director Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering B.I. Gu; and Mr.Andrey Osmakov, Consul-General of the Russian Federation in Busan.

Mr. Grigoriev of Gazprom Global LNG remarked, “Gazprom’s and other Russian companies’ need for cost-effective and environmentally-friendly tanker fleet for trade and export operations and the need for offshore units and vessels for the exploitation and production of natural resources on the Russian shelf, call for a new approach based on innovation, best scientific achievements and best practices of the world’s shipbuilding sector. RS maintains close contacts with almost all the maritime industry stakeholders, both Russian and foreign: shipyards, shipowners, research institutes and international organisations. Thanks to its unique practical experience and position, RS can and should become a ‘bridge’, coordinating Russian and foreign partners’ joint efforts for innovation in shipbuilding.”

Mr. Rokhlin of Sovcomflot said, “Sovcomflot highly appreciates the level of interaction with RS and looks forward to expanding the scope of our cooperation”.

“Our clients’ ambitious fleet construction plans have prompted us to expand our global presence, especially within the major shipbuilding centres, – emphasised RS CEO Mikhail Ayvazov. The first RS office in the Republic of Korea was established back in 1996 with the main focus on ships in operation. Since 2005 RS has continuously been involved in various newbuilding projects in Korea and has acquired substantial experience of cooperation with the major Korean shipyards. The high-tech marine projects involving RS participation in Korea range from Arctic shuttle tankers to state-of-the-art drilling units. These projects have enabled us to establish good relationships with the local maritime industry.”