TTM15200 - Background material: Shipping organisations
Below are listed the principal shipping organisation affecting the shipping industry of the United Kingdom:
| Organisation | Abbreviation | Function |
|---|---|---|
| American Bureau of Shipping | ABS | American classification society, see TTM15030 |
| Baltic and International Maritime Conference | BIMCO | World’s largest shipping organisation with broad membership. Functions include a representative body, advice service to members and publishing of standard charterparty and sale and purchase documents, see TTM15110. |
| Baltic Exchange | Baltic | Shipping market in City of London, for shipowners, brokers, agents, managers and operators, particularly those in bulk market |
| British International Freight Association | BIFA | Representative body of freight forwarders and the operators of road, rail, maritime intermodal and air freight services. Supports a code of conduct for members, training programmes, lobbies governments and publishes standard freight forwarding agreements |
| British Shippers’ Council | BSC | Represents the interest of shippers using air and sea transport |
| Bureau Veritas (France) | BV | French classification society, see TTM15030 |
| Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom (The) | CoS | Represents the interests of British shipowners and ship managers. Covers all issues on British shipping and its various sectors including ports. The CoS was a principal proponent for the development of the UK’s tonnage tax |
| China Classification Society | CCS | Chinese classification society, see TTM15030 |
| Department for Transport | DfT | Ministry responsible for transport in the UK, including shipping. Certifies and monitors the training requirement of tonnage tax companies, see TTM04020 |
| Det Norske Veritas (Norway) | DNV | Norwegian classification society, see TTM15030 |
| Germanischer Lloyd (Germany) | GL | German classification society, see TTM15030 |
| Det Norske Veritas Germanischer Lloyd (DNV & GL merged in September 2013) | DNV GL | Norwegian/German classification society, see TTM15030 |
| Hellenic Register of Shipping | HRS | Greek classification society, see TTM15030 |
| Indian Register of Shipping | IRS | Indian classification society, see TTM15030 |
| Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers | ICS | International body based in London, offering professional qualifications to shipbrokers (FICS and MRCS) |
| International Association of Classification Societies | IACS | Representative body of classification societies, based in London |
| International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners | INTERCARGO | Representative body for bulk ship owners, particularly Greek. Based in London. |
| International Association of Independent Tanker Owners | INTERTANKO | Representative body for about ¾ of the independent tanker fleets. Issues a number of standard documents for tanker operators. Based in Norway |
| International Association of Ports and Harbors | IAPH | Worldwide association for ports and harbours to promote the interests of members |
| International Chamber of Commerce | ICC | Representative body for the promotion of international trade, based in Paris. Sponsors the International Court of Arbitration and the International Maritime Bureau |
| International Chamber of Shipping | ICS | Promotion of the shipping industry worldwide |
| International Maritime Bureau | IMB | International crime fighting bureau for maritime matters. Sponsored by the ICC. |
| International Maritime Organisation | IMO | The only UN organisation headquartered in London, concerned with maritime issues, particularly safety and pollution. Promoted the Convention on Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), as well as other international treaties and standards. All ships now identified by their unique IMO number |
| International Ship Managers Association | ISMA | Association for ship and crew managers. Promotes the ‘ISMA Code’ of standards for ship management |
| International Ship Suppliers Association | ISSA | Representative body for the suppliers to ships, based in UK |
| International Shipping Federation | ISF | The federation of shipowners dealing with matters concerning employees |
| International Transport Workers’ Federation | ITF | Federation of transport workers’ unions, based in London. |
| Korean Register of Shipping | KRS | Korean classification society, see TTM15030 |
| Lloyd’s Register of Shipping (UK) | LR | British classification society, see TTM15030 |
| London Tanker Brokers’ Panel | LTBP | Independent body of shipbrokers to act as adjudicators of charter rates for tankers. Decisions recognised by tax authorities as acceptable for transfer pricing. Publishes monthly the Average Freight Rate Assessment (AFRA) of rates for standard voyages. See TTM15170 on Worldscale |
| Maritime and Coastguard Agency | MCA | Executive agency of Dft, formed from the merger of the Maritime Safety Agency and the Coastguard. Responsible in the UK for ship registration, seafarer certification, maritime safety, and port state control of foreign ships |
| Maritime Training Trust | MTT | Trust set up to administer training of seafarers from PILOT payments received under the training requirement, see TTM04001 |
| Mission to Seafarers | Seafarers’ spiritual and material welfare organisation, headquartered in London | |
| National Union of Marine, Aviation & Shipping Transport Officers | NUMAST | Trade union for masters, officers and cadets |
| National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers | RMT | Trade union for ratings and other seafarers |
| Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (Japan) | Class NK | Japanese classification society, see TTM15030 |
| Polski Rejestr Statkow (Poland) | PRS | Polish classification society, see TTM15030 |
| Registro Italiano Navale (Italy) | RINA | Italian classification society, see TTM15030 |
| Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators | SIGTTO | Trade association for liquefied gas tanker and terminal operators. |
| The Salvage Association | International organisation based in London for loss adjusting and surveyor services in connection with salvage and repairs of ships | |
| UK Offshore Operators Association | UKOOA | Representative body for UK offshore oil and gas industry. |