IACS announces Incoming Council Chair
Lloyd’s Register CEO Nick Brown to take up role on 1st July this year.
The International Association of Classification Societies has named Lloyd’s Register CEO Nick Brown as its Incoming Council Chair.
This is the first time that the IACS Chair has been chosen by the Association’s Members and not by rotation, a move that follows governance changes announced in December last year. As part of those changes, Mr. Brown’s term of office will run until 31st December 2023.
Mr. Brown commented: “I am honoured to have been named Chair of the International Association of Classification Societies. The Association has always been and remains a beacon of safety for maritime through its development of important technical standards and guidelines. The governance arrangements developed over the past years have sent a clear signal to our stakeholders that IACS and its members are committed to ensuring that the classification industry remains an effective force in the maritime sector and I thank the IACS Members for choosing me to oversee the implementation of these important changes.”
As part of the new model, Mr. Li Zhiyuan of the China Classification Society was appointed as Chair of the General Policy Group (GPG) for a three-year period starting 1st July. Mr. Li, who also acted as GPG Chair between 2016 and 2017, and his team will be located in IACS Secretariat in London meaning these highly expert, technical specialists will be closer to the IMO and other industry associations thus facilitating a deeper, wider and more consistent cooperation on the key issues facing the maritime industry.
Mr. Brown added: “The current Council Chair, Koichi Fujiwara of ClassNK, has successfully delivered far-reaching change to the governance of IACS while simultaneously ensuring that IACS remained fully responsive to industry needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. I look forward to building on his achievements by ensuring IACS continues to play its role in supporting an industry experiencing times of rapid change and delivering responsive advice to the technical and regulatory challenges posed by decarbonisation and digitisation.”
Robert Ashdown, IACS Secretary General, congratulated Mr. Brown and Mr. Li on their appointments, saying: “The unanimous appointment of the Council and GPG Chairs demonstrates the clear commitment of the IACS members to evolving the Association to meet the needs and expectations of industry and regulators. The significant strengthening of the Secretariat combined with the consistency of longer Chairmanship periods means that IACS is now well positioned to engage at pace and in depth as we continue to deliver on our core mission of safer, cleaner shipping.”
Mr. Nick Brown
Nick joined Lloyd’s Register in 1996 and was appointed CEO in January 2021.
In an extensive career with LR, he has worked as a ship surveyor in Bahrain, Dubai, Finland and Germany before moving to China to spend seven years leading LR’s activities in the country. He has since been Director for Business Development and Innovation, Marine Chief Operating Officer and Marine and Offshore Director.
His focus as CEO is to deliver Lloyd’s Register’s vision of ‘working together for a safer world’, improving the performance and sustainability of our customers’ businesses through LR’s trusted advice, insight and expertise.
Nick is a graduate of Nottingham University, a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and a Member of both the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology.
Mr. Li Zhiyuan
Li Zhiyuan studied naval architecture at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and EMBA at China Europe International Business School. After working as a surveyor in CCS and a technical officer in IMO, he has held various management positions in CCS on international affairs, rule development, new-buildings etc. He chaired IACS GPG in 2016-2017 and led Chinese Delegations to IMO’s DE and SSE Sub-Committees.