Equasis has appointed Mr. S. Riaz Khan, Head of DVB Bank’s Shipping Research as Chairman of Editorial Board designate for a period of 2 years.

Equasis (www.equasis.org) is an information system that collates data on quality and safety-related information on vessels, based on Port State Control (PSC) inspections from various countries. These PSC countries formed MOU’s (Memorandum of Understanding) that feed data into Equasis. Currently reporting into the Equasis system are the Paris MOU (26 countries), the Tokyo MOU (18), the US Coast Guard and with participation from some countries within the Indian MOU (6) who will be joining Equasis by the end of this year.

Equasis is a tool aimed at reducing substandard shipping with a focus on four major issues:
1) SOLAS: Safety of Life at Sea, to ensure safety of seafarers.
2) Loadline: To ensure watertight integrity of the vessel.
3) STCW: Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping of Seafarers, to ensure competency of personnel and adequate onboard procedures.
4) MARPOL: Prevention of Pollution from Ships, to ensure protection of the environment.

Equasis promotes the exchange of unbiased information and transparency in maritime transportation and allows persons involved in the maritime industry to be better informed about the performance of ships, ship managers and maritime organisations which they are dealing with. The initiators of the project have been the maritime administrations of the European Commission and France as well as those of Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom, the US Coast Guard and Japan.

Dagfinn Lunde, Member of the Board of Managing Directors of DVB Bank AG and Head of DVB´s Shipping Division, said: “Maritime safety plays an important role for a leading ship financier like DVB. We have supported Equasis from its beginnings and hope that it will become the global source for PSC information.”

Mr. Lunde himself has been honoured with the United States Coast Guard Meritorious Public Service Award in 2000 in recognition of his dedication to worldwide maritime safety, environmental protection efforts and support of the United States Coast Guard’s goals in these areas.

Mr. S. Riaz Khan is an international executive with an extensive experience in shipping, business development, general management, information technology, start-ups, finance, joint ventures and market analysis. He joined DVB in 2001, and since then has built up DVB´s Shipping Research department, which today is an integral part of the DVB strategy. It provides knowledge and, up to date analysis where DVB has or wants to have an involvement. Mr. Khan and his team have been awarded the accolade of “Best Shipping Finance Research” by Lloyd´s Shipping Economist for the years 2004 and 2005.