Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and engineering. The organisation dates to 1760. Its stated aims are to enhance the safety of life, property, and the environment, by helping its clients (including by validation, certification, and accreditation) to improve the safety and performance of complex projects, supply chains and critical infrastructure.
 | ||
 Headquarters of Lloyd's Register | ||
| Company type | Private company limited by shares | |
|---|---|---|
| Industry | Maritime and shipping | |
| Genre | Classification society | |
| Founded | 1760 | |
| Headquarters | 71 Fenchurch Street, London , United Kingdom | |
Area served | Global | |
Key people |
| |
| Services | Classification | |
| £18 million | ||
| Owner | Independent | |
Number of employees | 3,600 | |
| Parent | Lloyd's Register Foundation, UK registered charity[1] | |
| Subsidiaries |
| |
| Website | [2] and in 2021 sold its Business Assurance & Inspection Services division.[3] In 2022, LR acquired OneOcean Group, a marine software and digital services company, to head up a new digital services division.[4]
Lloyd's Register is unaffiliated with Lloyd's of London,[5] but emerged from the same professional and social circles that historically met at Lloyd's Coffee House, from which both organisations took their name. HistoryeditOrigineditThe organisation was named after a seventeenth-century coffee house in London that was frequented by merchants, marine underwriters, and others associated with shipping. The coffee house owner, Edward Lloyd, helped them to exchange information by circulating a printed sheet of all the news he heard. In 1760, the Register Society was formed by the customers of the coffee house who assembled the Register of Shipping, the first known register of its type.  Between 1800 and 1833, a dispute between shipowners and underwriters resulted in each group publishing a list—the "Red Book" and the "Green Book".[6] Both parties came to the verge of bankruptcy. They reached agreement in 1834 to unite and form Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign Shipping, establishing a General Committee and charitable values. In 1914, with an increasingly international outlook, the organisation changed its name to Lloyd's Register of Shipping. The RegistereditThe Society printed the first Register of Ships in 1764 in order to give both underwriters and merchants an idea of the condition of the vessels they insured and chartered: ship hulls were graded by a lettered scale (A being the best), and ship's fittings (masts, rigging, and other equipment) were graded by number (1 being the best). Thus the best classification "A1", from which the expression A1 or A1 at Lloyd's is derived, first appeared in the 1775–76 edition of the Register. The Register, with information on all seagoing, self-propelled merchant ships of 100 gross tons or greater, is published annually. A vessel remains registered with Lloyd's Register until it is sunk, wrecked, hulked, scrapped or withdrawn from the register by the vessel's owner. The Register was published formerly by the joint venture company of Lloyd's Register-Fairplay, which was formed in July 2001 by the merger of Lloyd's Register's Maritime Information Publishing Group and Prime Publications Limited. Lloyd's Register sold its share of the venture to IHS Markit in 2009. American Lloyd’s Register of American and Foreign ShippingeditThe American Lloyd’s Registry of American and Foreign Shipping was established in 1857, and the American Lloyd’s Register of American and Foreign Shipping issued from at least 1859 until at least 1883 by the "Board of American Lloyd's".[7][8][9] Corporate structureedit
Lloyd's Register's main office is located in London at 71 Fenchurch Street. Lloyd's Register also operates in more than 70 locations, serving clients based in 182 countries.[10] Lloyd's Register has changed and expanded over the last 250 years with the industrial revolutions - from a time when steam engines were developed for mechanical production to the digital and cyber technology of today. The latter developments are reflected, among other things, in the acquisition of Senergy, an integrated energy service provider, in 2013[citation needed] and Nettitude, a cyber security specialist in 2018.[citation needed] Lloyd’s Register has built a portfolio of digital, data and software solutions including greenfencetm, RTAMO and Seasafe.[citation needed] Lloyd's Register building 71 Fenchurch Street Central atrium of 71 Fenchurch Street ServiceseditNuclear ships projecteditIn January 2024, Lloyd's Register signed a MOU with KEPCO, Zodiac Maritime and KSOE to assess rule requirements for the safe operation and regulatory compliance of nuclear powered bulk carriers and container ships to be designed and built by the consortium.[11] Classification rulesedit Lloyd's Register is known best for the classification and certification of ships and inspects and approves important components and accessories, including life-saving appliances, marine pollution prevention, fire protection, navigation, radio communication equipment, deck gear, cables, ropes, and anchors.[12] LR's Rules for Ships LR's Rules for Ships are derived from principles of naval architecture and marine engineering, and govern safety and operational standards for numerous merchant, military, and privately owned vessels. LR's Rules govern a number of topics including:
Specific editions of the rules are available to cater for merchant ships, naval ships, trimarans, special purpose vessels and offshore structures.[13] A ship is known as being in class if she meets all the minimum requirements of LR's Rules, and such a status affects the possibility of a ship getting insurance. Class can be withdrawn from a ship if she is in violation of any regulations and does not maintain the minimum requirements specified by the company. However, exceptional circumstances may warrant special dispensation from Lloyd's Register. Any alteration to the vessel, whether it is a structural alteration or machinery, must be approved by Lloyd's Register before it is implemented. Ships are inspected on a regular basis by a team of Lloyd's Register surveyors, one of the most important inspections being a ship's load line survey – due once every five years. Such a survey includes an inspection of the hull to make sure that the load line has not been altered. Numerous other inspections such as the condition of hatch and door seals, safety barriers, and guard rails are also performed. Upon completion the ship is allowed to be operated for another year, and is issued a load line certificate.[clarification needed] Rules and regulationseditLloyd’s Register provide a list of rules and regulations to the public.
Referencesedit
External linksedit
| |
