Classnk Snapshot
Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, better known as ClassNK, is one of the world's leading ship classification societies. By the end of 2004, the society had 6,290 ships totaling more than 125 million gross tons on its register -- the number represents about 20% of the world's commercial fleet. The non-profit foundation traces its roots back to the Imperial Marine Association (Teikoku Kaiji Kyokai), founded in 1899, which was relaunched as the Japan Marine Association (Nippon Kaiji Kyokai) in 1946. Although based in Japan, where it has 21 offices, ClassNK has a network of 73 exclusive surveyor sites in 39 countries.