>Press Releases Home > Publications and press releases > Press Releases Marine Department signs new deal with recognised organisations The Director of Marine, Mr Tsui Shung-yiu, today (May 29) signed a third agreement with representatives from seven recognised organisations (ROs) to consolidate all the past experiences involving ship survey work, technical requirements, International Safety Management (ISM) Agreement and other new international requirements. The ROs were delegated the work of carrying out statutory surveys and certification functions for ocean-going cargo ships when the Hong Kong Shipping Register became an autonomous shipping Register in December 1990. The seven ROs are the American Bureau of Shipping, Bureau Veritas, China Classification Society, Det Norske Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd, Lloyd's Register of Shipping and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai. Speaking at the agreement signing ceremony, Mr Tsui said the role of ROs has become more important in the shipping business while that of the administration in the certification work of ships and shipping companies was diminishing since the first agreement was signed more than a decade ago. "The tasks of the administration have changed to monitoring the works that have been delegated," he said. Mr Tsui stressed that both the ROs and the administration had gone through this transition with some initial apprehension, but ended up with a satisfactory result. The Director recalled the introduction of the Flag State Quality Control (FSQC) System in 1999, saying that the new system had lived up to the expectations. "The Hong Kong Shipping Register has just crossed the 12 million gross tonnage mark this week," he said. He thanked the ROs for their cooperation and assistance in making the FSQC system a success and in achieving a good performance for the Hong Kong Shipping Register. He also thanked them for their efforts in redrafting the new agreement. The first agreement between the Marine Department and the ROs was signed on December 2, 1990 to cover a five-year period. And on February 5, 1996, the second five-year agreement was signed. On June 10, 1998, an additional agreement was signed to cover the delegation to ROs of ISM Code verification and certification that came into force on July 1, 1998. As regards the new agreement signed today, it would combine the contents of the second agreement, the ISM agreement and incorporate new international requirements, and it would be valid for a five-year period Tuesday, May 29, 2001
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