Germanischer Lloyd
Encyclopedia
The Germanischer Lloyd SE (ex-AG) is a classification society
based in the city of Hamburg, Germany. As a technical supervisory organization Germanischer Lloyd conducts safety surveys on more than 7,000 ships with over 100 Mio GT. Its technical and engineering services also include the mitigation of risks and assurance of technical compliance for oil, gas and industrial installations as well as wind energy parks.
On 16 March 1867, a group of 600 shipowners, shipbuilders and insurers met in the big hall of the Hamburg Stock Exchange on the occasion of the founding convention of Germanischer Lloyd. On behalf of the founding committee, the merchant and shipowner August Behn signed the statute of the young institution. The founding committee consisted of representatives of shipowners J.C. Godeffroy & Sohn, A.J. Schön & Co., A.J. Hertz & Söhne as well as R.M. Sloman. The new society was founded as a non-profit association based in Hamburg.
The reason for forming a German classification society
was to achieve transparency. Merchants, shipowners and insurers used to get little information about the state of a ship. As independent classification society, Germanischer Lloyd was created to evaluate the quality of ships and deliver the results to shipowners, merchants and insurers.
First classifications were based on construction rules developed by Friedrich Schüler, a shipbuilder from Stettin-Grabow, Prussia
(later German Empire
). GL’s first international ship classification register from 1868 reports 273 classed ships – 26 of them under a foreign flag
. In 1877, ten times more classed ships were registered. As a consequence, the surveyor network extended rapidly. By 1869, GL had surveyors in a dozen German seaports and outside Germany in St Petersburg, Copenhagen, London, Liverpool, Amsterdam, Constantinople, Swatow, St Thomas, Amoy, Penang and Singapore.
Iron and steam ships became more and more popular, slowly replacing wooden sailing vessels. After years of economic difficulties, Imperial Chancellor Bismarck took charge of the situation by announcing a commission. Its advice: The association ought to turn into a public company. The change was finalised at a general assembly which took place on 5 October 1889.
In 1894 as the economic situation improved, Germanischer Lloyd decided to extend its service by teaming up with the German maritime authority “See-Berufsgenossenschaft (SeeBG)”, which was founded in 1887. While the SeeBG issued rules for accident prevention and checked for their compliance, GL provided support as technical adviser. The collaboration between both parties has lasted until today.
As a classification society, Germanischer Lloyd has always focused on ship safety. The importance of the subject became clear when the tragic “Titanic” disaster happened in 1912. Two years later, a GL director attended the “Titanic” conference as representative of the German government. At this point, 10 per cent of the world’s merchant fleet was classed by Germanischer Lloyd. The First World War, however, was a severe set-back.
International relationships were discontinued and foreign ships changed class. After the war things started to improve again. By 1939, the register contained 4.7 million GT (gross tonnes). Then the Second World War left its mark: the headquarters was destroyed, offices bombed out and overseas agencies lost. Most files were abolished or confiscated. But the Allied Control Council eventually allowed advocates from the shipping, shipbuilding, and ship insurance industry to obtain a temporary licence for the company; it became permanent in 1948. Following the war, Germany’s economic recovery led to rapid development: within seven years the classed tonnage increased from 400,000 to three million GT.
The company continued to grow. Large-capacity computers enabled the design and construction of bigger and more modern ships. Container ship
s were developed to satisfy the increasing consumer demand for goods. These open vessels were a lot more vulnerable to torsion and a particular challenge for design engineers. GL invested in research resulting in new construction rules for container ships.
At the beginning of the 1970s, offshore technology
became an important field of activity for Germanischer Lloyd. In 1973, working on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Research and Technology, the society surveyed the construction of the research platform “North Sea” and supervised its installation to the North West of the German island Helgoland. GL was also involved in the installation of the first German oil production platforms “Mittelplate”, located in the Wadden Sea, and “Schwedeneck”, located in the Baltic Sea bight off Kiel, Germany. Many other offshore technology projects followed and the work continues today.
In 1977, wind energy
was introduced as a new business segment. This diversification, originally started in the 1960s, prevented the society from being severely affected by the shipbuilding crisis in the first half of the 1980s.
In the autumn of 2006, French rival Bureau Veritas
launched a hostile takeover bid but this was defeated through the support of Hamburg-based entrepreneur Günter Herz. Subsequently, 100% of the shares of the company had been acquired by the Herz family office Mayfair.
statistics, Germanischer Lloyd has been ranking amongst the top classification societies.
Since the acquisition of GL by Günter Herz, the group has expanded its activities in the energy markets. The acquisitions of Advantica (UK) in 2007 and Trident (Malaysia) in 2008 has broadened the service scope to consultancy services in the oil and gas sectors. The merger with Noble Denton
(UK) in 2009 further expanded its activities in offshore technical services and the acquisitions of PVI(Canada) in 2007, MCS (US) in 2008 and IRS (Singapore) in 2009 grew its inspection business.
In the oil & gas business segment Germanischer Lloyd's range of services now covers all major asset types including oil and gas exploration and production assets like rigs, drill ships or FPSOs, storage facilities, sub sea technology, LNG terminals, pipelines as well as gas, electricity and water distribution networks. The Group offers certification, inspection and consulting services as well as software solutions for the installation, operation and decommissioning phase. Typical project are owners engineering services, marine warranty services, due diligence studies, risk & safety work, integrity management, flow assurance studies, front end engineering services or third party certification work. As of 1.1.2010 the oil & gas business operates under the brand GL Noble Denton
.
In the renewables segment, GL acquired Helimax (Canada) in 2007, Windtest (Germany) in 2008 and merged with Garrad Hassan
(UK) in 2009 making it the largest independent technical adviser with more than 600 dedicated engineers in the renewables industry. It is active in 18 countries with the major bases in the UK, US, Canada, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Italy, India and China.
Its services include turbine type certification, design consultancy, energy yield assessments, project management, site assessments, permitting, front end engineering of wind parks, due diligence, software solutions for wind parks and turbine design, wind forecasting and operations improvement services.
Applications are Natural Gas Forecasting, Pipeline Data Integrity, Oil Reservoir Modelling, Gas Mains Replacement & Regulatory Compliance. Additional solution
s include Network Development Services (SynerGEE Gas), Pipeline Management Solutions (SPS) and Asset Integrity Systems (GALIOM) which combines AIM and risk-based inspection solutions for any oil, gas, or petrochemical facility or power plant.
In renewable energies the merger with Garrad Hassan
provided a software solution set for turbine design (GH Bladed), wind farm design (GH WindFarmer) and a SCADA System (GH SCADA) that can integrate data from all major turbine manufacturers.
The acquisition of FRIENDSHIP SYSTEMS at the beginning of 2009 added the CAE integration platform FRIENDSHIP-Framework to GL's software portfolio. The software can be applied to the design and optimization of ship hulls, propellers, appendages, turbine blades, pump casings and other types of functional, flow-exposed surfaces.
Classification society
A classification society is a non-governmental organization that establishes and maintains technical standards for the construction and operation of ships and offshore structures...
based in the city of Hamburg, Germany. As a technical supervisory organization Germanischer Lloyd conducts safety surveys on more than 7,000 ships with over 100 Mio GT. Its technical and engineering services also include the mitigation of risks and assurance of technical compliance for oil, gas and industrial installations as well as wind energy parks.
History
The reason for forming a German classification society
Classification society
A classification society is a non-governmental organization that establishes and maintains technical standards for the construction and operation of ships and offshore structures...
was to achieve transparency. Merchants, shipowners and insurers used to get little information about the state of a ship. As independent classification society, Germanischer Lloyd was created to evaluate the quality of ships and deliver the results to shipowners, merchants and insurers.
First classifications were based on construction rules developed by Friedrich Schüler, a shipbuilder from Stettin-Grabow, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
(later German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
). GL’s first international ship classification register from 1868 reports 273 classed ships – 26 of them under a foreign flag
Flag State
The flag state of a commercial vessel is the state under whose laws the vessel is registered or licensed.The flag state has the authority and responsibility to enforce regulations over vessels registered under its flag, including those relating to inspection, certification, and issuance of safety...
. In 1877, ten times more classed ships were registered. As a consequence, the surveyor network extended rapidly. By 1869, GL had surveyors in a dozen German seaports and outside Germany in St Petersburg, Copenhagen, London, Liverpool, Amsterdam, Constantinople, Swatow, St Thomas, Amoy, Penang and Singapore.
Iron and steam ships became more and more popular, slowly replacing wooden sailing vessels. After years of economic difficulties, Imperial Chancellor Bismarck took charge of the situation by announcing a commission. Its advice: The association ought to turn into a public company. The change was finalised at a general assembly which took place on 5 October 1889.
In 1894 as the economic situation improved, Germanischer Lloyd decided to extend its service by teaming up with the German maritime authority “See-Berufsgenossenschaft (SeeBG)”, which was founded in 1887. While the SeeBG issued rules for accident prevention and checked for their compliance, GL provided support as technical adviser. The collaboration between both parties has lasted until today.
As a classification society, Germanischer Lloyd has always focused on ship safety. The importance of the subject became clear when the tragic “Titanic” disaster happened in 1912. Two years later, a GL director attended the “Titanic” conference as representative of the German government. At this point, 10 per cent of the world’s merchant fleet was classed by Germanischer Lloyd. The First World War, however, was a severe set-back.
International relationships were discontinued and foreign ships changed class. After the war things started to improve again. By 1939, the register contained 4.7 million GT (gross tonnes). Then the Second World War left its mark: the headquarters was destroyed, offices bombed out and overseas agencies lost. Most files were abolished or confiscated. But the Allied Control Council eventually allowed advocates from the shipping, shipbuilding, and ship insurance industry to obtain a temporary licence for the company; it became permanent in 1948. Following the war, Germany’s economic recovery led to rapid development: within seven years the classed tonnage increased from 400,000 to three million GT.
The company continued to grow. Large-capacity computers enabled the design and construction of bigger and more modern ships. Container ship
Container ship
Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.-History:...
s were developed to satisfy the increasing consumer demand for goods. These open vessels were a lot more vulnerable to torsion and a particular challenge for design engineers. GL invested in research resulting in new construction rules for container ships.
At the beginning of the 1970s, offshore technology
Offshore construction
Offshore construction is the installation of structures and facilities in a marine environment, usually for the production and transmission of electricity, oil, gas and other resources....
became an important field of activity for Germanischer Lloyd. In 1973, working on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Research and Technology, the society surveyed the construction of the research platform “North Sea” and supervised its installation to the North West of the German island Helgoland. GL was also involved in the installation of the first German oil production platforms “Mittelplate”, located in the Wadden Sea, and “Schwedeneck”, located in the Baltic Sea bight off Kiel, Germany. Many other offshore technology projects followed and the work continues today.
In 1977, wind energy
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
was introduced as a new business segment. This diversification, originally started in the 1960s, prevented the society from being severely affected by the shipbuilding crisis in the first half of the 1980s.
In the autumn of 2006, French rival Bureau Veritas
Bureau Veritas
Bureau Veritas S.A. is a multinational company providing conformity assessment, certification and consulting services to industry, government and individuals. Originally formed in Antwerp in 1828 as Bureau de Renseignements pour les Assurances Maritimes , the Bureau Veritas name was adopted in 1829...
launched a hostile takeover bid but this was defeated through the support of Hamburg-based entrepreneur Günter Herz. Subsequently, 100% of the shares of the company had been acquired by the Herz family office Mayfair.
GL Today
Today Germanischer Lloyd serves from a global network of 176 offices in 80 countries, employing some 7000 people. 124 flag states have authorized GL to perform statutory duties. According to annually published Port State ControlPort State Control
Port State Control is the inspection of foreign ships in other national ports by PSC officers for the purpose of verifying that the competency of the master and officers on board, the condition of a ship and its equipment comply with the requirements of international conventions Port State...
statistics, Germanischer Lloyd has been ranking amongst the top classification societies.
Since the acquisition of GL by Günter Herz, the group has expanded its activities in the energy markets. The acquisitions of Advantica (UK) in 2007 and Trident (Malaysia) in 2008 has broadened the service scope to consultancy services in the oil and gas sectors. The merger with Noble Denton
GL Noble Denton
-About GL Noble Denton:GL Noble Denton is the oil and gas business of Germanischer Lloyd , headquartered in Hamburg, Germany and London, UK...
(UK) in 2009 further expanded its activities in offshore technical services and the acquisitions of PVI(Canada) in 2007, MCS (US) in 2008 and IRS (Singapore) in 2009 grew its inspection business.
In the oil & gas business segment Germanischer Lloyd's range of services now covers all major asset types including oil and gas exploration and production assets like rigs, drill ships or FPSOs, storage facilities, sub sea technology, LNG terminals, pipelines as well as gas, electricity and water distribution networks. The Group offers certification, inspection and consulting services as well as software solutions for the installation, operation and decommissioning phase. Typical project are owners engineering services, marine warranty services, due diligence studies, risk & safety work, integrity management, flow assurance studies, front end engineering services or third party certification work. As of 1.1.2010 the oil & gas business operates under the brand GL Noble Denton
GL Noble Denton
-About GL Noble Denton:GL Noble Denton is the oil and gas business of Germanischer Lloyd , headquartered in Hamburg, Germany and London, UK...
.
In the renewables segment, GL acquired Helimax (Canada) in 2007, Windtest (Germany) in 2008 and merged with Garrad Hassan
Garrad Hassan
GL Garrad Hassan is one of the world's leading wind energy consultants. GH also consults in offshore wind, marine renewables, and solar energy. GH was founded in 1984 by Dr. Andrew Garrad and Dr...
(UK) in 2009 making it the largest independent technical adviser with more than 600 dedicated engineers in the renewables industry. It is active in 18 countries with the major bases in the UK, US, Canada, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Italy, India and China.
Its services include turbine type certification, design consultancy, energy yield assessments, project management, site assessments, permitting, front end engineering of wind parks, due diligence, software solutions for wind parks and turbine design, wind forecasting and operations improvement services.
GL Software
GL's Software Solutions practice is a global provider of engineering and commercial software and services to oil, gas, petrochemical, water, wind, power and shipbuilding companies.Applications are Natural Gas Forecasting, Pipeline Data Integrity, Oil Reservoir Modelling, Gas Mains Replacement & Regulatory Compliance. Additional solution
Solution
In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of only one phase. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. The solvent does the dissolving.- Types of solutions :...
s include Network Development Services (SynerGEE Gas), Pipeline Management Solutions (SPS) and Asset Integrity Systems (GALIOM) which combines AIM and risk-based inspection solutions for any oil, gas, or petrochemical facility or power plant.
In renewable energies the merger with Garrad Hassan
Garrad Hassan
GL Garrad Hassan is one of the world's leading wind energy consultants. GH also consults in offshore wind, marine renewables, and solar energy. GH was founded in 1984 by Dr. Andrew Garrad and Dr...
provided a software solution set for turbine design (GH Bladed), wind farm design (GH WindFarmer) and a SCADA System (GH SCADA) that can integrate data from all major turbine manufacturers.
The acquisition of FRIENDSHIP SYSTEMS at the beginning of 2009 added the CAE integration platform FRIENDSHIP-Framework to GL's software portfolio. The software can be applied to the design and optimization of ship hulls, propellers, appendages, turbine blades, pump casings and other types of functional, flow-exposed surfaces.