“My job is two-fold,” says Jost Bergmann. “One part involves providing our customers with technical support, meaning providing them with local expertise related to their newbuildings and ships in operation.

Our customers rightly expect us to be hands-on with their vessels and challenges – my job is to ensure that we are. This also includes approval work. The other part of my job is training. Since moving to our new office building last year, we have established a DNV Academy and greatly expanded the range of courses we offer. “The technical support means working with the day-to-day operational issues we face in the shipping industry. This includes identifying R&D projects where DNV can work together with the German shipping industry. But our main focus is on developing local expertise that can provide technical support such as advisory and approval services. That is why we have employed Mr Sönke Pohl, who provides technical support to clients that are planning newbuildings. However, we are still looking for a few more qualified engineers in order to further increase our capacity.

“On the training side, we intend to expand our activities and expertise. This means that we are going to offer programmes not only within the traditional maritime areas but also in cooperation with ITGS (DNV’s business area for IT safety, security and reliability), as this is a growth area within shipping too. Vessels are increasingly run by computer systems – and all these systems may not always ’talk to’ each other, or they may require upgrades,” says Bergmann.

Jost Bergmann holds a degree in Naval Architecture from the University of Rostock which he achieved in 1990, just when the former East German regime collapsed. He started his professional career at Bremer Vulkan Shipyard in Bremen, where his work included ship design and production and he was in charge of the dock erection area. He joined DNV in 1996 and spent two years at the DNV headquarters in Norway, where he learned to speak fluent Norwegian, before returning to DNV Hamburg in 1999.