Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and Silver/Container Inspection & Marine Survey (CIMS) have endorsed an agreement that authorizes Silver/CIMS to carry out in-service tank container periodic inspections or certification surveys on behalf of DNV.
Silver/CIMS, based in Seabrook TX, was founded in 1989 and operates in North American, European, East Asian, and Australian ports.
In 1999, Silver/CIMS inspected more than 10,000 tank containers, mostly in the United States. This represents a market share of about 45% for the United States and 15% worldwide. Including on/off hire inspections, Silver/CIMS has about 70% of the in-service market share to the United States. Of these surveys, about 40% are related to regulatory periodic inspections. These regulatory periodic inspections involve five yearly and 2.5 yearly hydrostatic and tightness tests, respectively.
"The growth for tank container inspections is in East Asia and Europe," says James Silver, president of Silver/CIMS. "The total global volume is estimated to be about 100,000 units. Of these, about 75,000 units are in circulation." In Europe, Silver is in partnership with CIMS, based in Antwerp, Belgium.
DNV's coordinating office for Silver/CIMS in-service tank container certification is based in Houston TX. Design approvals for the new construction of tank containers will continue to be carried out at DNV headquarters at Hovik, Norway.