Celebrating 150 years of LR in Australia

Lloyd’s Register

Celebrating 150 years in Australia

When Lloyd’s Register (LR) opened for business in Australia in 1872, Melbourne and Sydney were already thriving ports as part of the lucrative colonial trade. After long voyages, many ships required repairs and the services of classification surveyors, as did vessels visiting other Australian ports.

By the end of the 1870s, LR had opened offices in Hobart, Adelaide, and Brisbane in addition to Melbourne and Sydney where LR’s surveyors were kept busy on some of the finest ships in existence at the time.

We have been busy ever since and are proud to celebrate 150 years of continuous operations in Australia. During this time LR, the world’s oldest classification society, has maintained one of the largest shares of the world fleet’s tonnage, while leading the way in classification rules development, quality of service and the standard of ships classed.

Here, we share some notable LR milestones of the past 150 years in Australia.

For LR, uncertain times amplify our core purpose –working together for a safe, sustainable and thriving ocean economy. Whatever the future holds, our focus on safety will remain undiminished and unwavering. We will always do our best to serve you, our valued clients in Australia, as we have been doing for the past 150 years.

We have been working and grown with many of you over the years. You have contributed to the success of LR in Australia. With that, we thank you.

Remko Hottentot Business Development Manager, Australasia

Australia Timeline

LR appoints its first surveyors in Melbourne and Sydney.

By the end of the 1870s, LR has surveyors based in Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney.

The Australian ship registers are brought into the new Universal Register of Shipping.

LR surveyors witness the testing of the steel plates and bars destined for the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

At time of construction, the LR classed yacht Aussie Rules is the largest aluminum and composite yacht in the world.

LR and the Royal Australian Navy, working together since 1989, have eight RAN vessels entered into LR class by 2000.

LR certifies the world’s first unmanned buoy capable of controlling an entire subsea gas field off Western Australia.

Classed by LR, the 63m Sydney Harbour cruise vessel, Captain Cook 3, is launched.

Built at home and abroad to LR naval classification rules, HMAS Canberra becomes the flagship of the Royal Australian Navy.

Prelude, the world’s largest ever floating structure, is built and delivered to LR class in Australia’s western waters.

LR awards its first additive manufacturing facility qualification certificate to a facility in Adelaide.

LR dispatches UK surveyors to Australia to assist with shipyards and the building of vital merchant vessels.

The LR classed River Glenelg is delivered in March 1944 at the Whyalla shipyard.

The Australian and New Zealand Committee is formed, with representatives from shipping, ship and engine builders and insurance companies.

The LR classed Aurora Australis is launched at Carrington Slipways, Newcastle, New South Wales.

LR-classed Collaroy, the final Freshwater-Class ferry enters service

Clutha Capricorn, the largest ship ever built in Australia in its time is delivered.

LR opens its Naval Liaison Office in Sydney to enhance its focused naval client support.

The icebreaker Nuyina is built and delivered to LR class to continue Australia’s work in the polar regions.

Lloyd’s Register celebrates its founding in Australia 150 years ago.

Spirit of Tasmania V, to be built and launched in 2024, to LR class

Australia’s first and largest oil tanker, P.J. Adams (owned by Ampol), is built to LR class at the Whyalla shipyard.

1872

LR appoints its first surveyors in Melbourne and Sydney, having first advertised in the local press on 25 May 1871.

David MacLeod and Robert F. Pockley are appointed the first surveyors in Melbourne and Sydney respectively. William Begg (pictured here, seated) is appointed to Port Adelaide in 1874.

In less than ten years, two surveyors have grown to a team of eight across Australia and New Zealand.

The LR classed River Glenelg is delivered in March 1944 at the Whyalla

LR goes on to oversee several firsts and notable vessels here until the yard’s closure in 1978.

shipyard (pictured here).

1950

LR begins to create its network of national committees consisting of representatives from shipping, ship and engine building and insurance companies.

The role of committee members is to ensure that local industry interests are taken into consideration in developing LR policies and services.

A combined Australian and New Zealand Committee is formed in 1950, becoming two separate committees in 1956.

1962

Australia’s first and largest oil tanker, P.J. Adams (owned by Ampol), is built to LR class at the now defunct Whyalla shipyard in South Australia. It features innovative welded construction techniques rather than the traditional riveting processes of the time.

1972

Ore carrier Clutha Capricorn, the largest ship ever built in Australia in its time, is delivered. It is built to LR class and constructed under survey at the Whyalla shipyard.

Powered by steam turbine, the single screw ship measures in at 48,947gt, 85,129dwt, with a length of 255.4m and a beam of 32.4m.

1989

The LR classed Aurora Australis is launched at Carrington Slipways, Newcastle, New South Wales.

Lovingly known as “Orange Roughy”, this ice breaker forms a vital lifeline to Australia’s southern research stations deep into the polar region.

1990

Classed by LR, the 63m Sydney Harbour cruise vessel, Captain Cook 3, is launched.

Owned by Captain Cook Cruises, such vessels are a mainstay around the harbour, enabling passengers to experience the sights of the surrounding waters.

2003

At time of construction, the LR classed yacht Aussie Rules is the largest aluminum and composite yacht in the world. It’s originally built for Australian golfing legend Greg Norman.

LR has classed many Australian yachts – from pleasure vessels and mega yachts to some of Australia’s finest America’s Cup contenders.

Built at home and abroad to LR naval classification rules, HMAS Canberra becomes the flagship of the Royal Australian Navy.

Along with her sistership HMAS Adelaide, they form the Canberra Class of Amphibious Assault Ships, which provide helicopter and landing craft docking capability to the RAN.

Prelude, the world’s largest ever floating structure, is built and delivered to LR class in Australia’s western waters.

Nuyina, the replacement for icebreaker Aurora Australis, is built and delivered to LR class to continue Australia’s work in the polar regions.

2024

The iconic red and white Spirit vessels have been a mainstay for passengers travelling between the mainland and Tasmania. We look forward to the Spirit of Tasmania V being built and launched in 2024, to LR class.

Lloyd’s Register

First for trusted advice

We were the world’s first marine classification society, founded more than 260 years ago to improve the safety of ships. We partner with clients to drive safety and performance across the maritime industry – offering advice and support to help them meet their ambitions.

The first to share our knowledge and experience, we work with our clients and other industry stakeholders, to make real change happen.

Our technical expertise is offered in multiple global locations, serving clients across the world. Our people are flexible, quick to act and easy to work with.

The beginnings of classification

In 1760, a group of marine underwriters and brokers, who were regular customers at Edward Lloyd’s coffee house in the City of London, formed a committee to assess the shipping risks to which they were exposed. They employed a small team of surveyors, most probably retired master mariners and veteran craftsmen, to examine ships and “classify” them according to their condition (hence the term “classification society”). The results were published in a Register of Ships, the earliest known printed volume appearing in 1764.

Since then, ship classification has remained the basis of LR’s work, although nowadays there is only one standard to which all classed ships must conform, expressed by the designation “100A1”.

A painting by John Allcott of LR-classed, 4-masted iron barque Loch Torridon, which in 1882 made the best passage of the season to England – 81 days from Sydney to the Lizard, Cornwall.

Impartiality

LR’s present constitution originated in 1834, when it amalgamated with a rival register produced by British shipowners, taking the title of Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign Shipping. Its immediate task was to define impartial measures of quality and, from 1834, the first Rules appeared in the Registers. The governing body of the new organisation, the General Committee, included members from all sections of the shipping community. This is a feature which, to this day, guarantees LR’s complete impartiality.

LR Rules and Regulations

LR’s Rules for the construction and maintenance of ships constitute the criteria for classification. The first Rules related only to wooden ships, but their scope has repeatedly expanded to keep pace with developments in shipbuilding and engineering. Since 1890, LR’s Technical Committee has been responsible for recommending changes in the existing Rules or adopting new ones.

One of four oceanographic survey vessels built to LR class in 1990 at Eglo Engineering, Adelaide, for the Royal Australian Navy.

Wandoo B Concrete Gravity Substructure (CGS). LR has provided Verification Services for the design, construction and installation of this concrete production and storage platform to the Wandoo Alliance.

National representation

After the set-up of the General Committee, LR began to create its network of national committees, consisting of representatives from shipping, ship and engine building and insurance companies. Chairmen of the national committees are ex-officio members of the LR’s General Committee, who act in an advisory and consultative capacity to ensure that local industry interests are understood and taken into consideration in the development of LR policy and services. A combined Australian and New Zealand Committee was formed in 1950, later becoming two separate committees in 1956.

Business focus in Australia

Our activities have increasingly diversified over the years. While large shipbuilding in Australia has diminished with the closure of many local yards, notably at Whyalla and Newcastle, the construction of smaller, more specialised ships has flourished. LR has been involved in many projects of notable designs, with Australian designers and builders at the forefront of such developments. In response, LR developed the Special Service Craft Rules, a set of requirements well-received within the industry.

LR has also been working with the Royal Australian Navy on multiple naval projects. In 2020, we opened a Naval Liaison Office in Sydney to enhance our focused support to the naval sector within the region.

Since the early 1980s, we have been involved in the offshore industry in Australia by providing inspection and certification services to notable clients such as Woodside Offshore Petroleum, BHP Petroleum, Wandoo Alliance and many others.

LR-classed Collaroy, a 1,184gt ferry built at Carrington Slipways, Newcastle, New South Wales, for Sydney Ferries in 1988.

The LR-certified Wandoo B concrete gravity substructure being towed to its location north west of Dampier, Western Australia.

Our Australian team

Today, we have six offices and 52 employees in Australia. Most of the team are surveyors and specialists covering different technical disciplines. We are here to support your business operations. By using our knowledge and technical expertise, we will work with you to advance safety and performance and inspire solutions to tackle our industry’s most pressing challenges, navigating through the journey of energy transition and digital transformation.

LR Foundation

LR is wholly owned by LR Foundation, a politically and financially independent global charity that aims to engineer a safer world through promoting safety and education. For a thriving ocean economy, LR and LR Foundation work together through a shared social purpose mission to make the world a safer place by funding research, fostering industry collaboration and developing action-oriented solutions.

The Foundation attends to the most pressing global safety challenges, establishing the best evidence and insight to better understand the complex factors that affect safety, and by building partnerships for change.

LR Foundation reduces risk and enhances the safety of the critical infrastructure that modern society relies on. It focuses on areas such as energy, transport and food by supporting high-quality research and accelerating technology through education and public outreach.

LR-classed tanker Australian Achiever (ex BP-Achiever), 127,575dwt, owned by BP Shipping Ltd, registered at Sydney.

The Skua offshore field’s mooring riser structure being loaded on the LR-class dock express 12 after completion at Eglo Engineering, Adelaide, 1991.

LR members of staff in Australia 2023

Adelaide SA

Blair Anderson Project Manager

Glenn Goodair Senior Surveyor

Brisbane QLD

Ashley Heilbronn Network Infrastructure and Performance Analyst

Dean Biskupovich Service Delivery Team Leader – Australasia East

Joel Campbell Service Delivery Technical Support

Mark Rodwell-Ball Project Manager – Marine & Offshore

Paul Jackson Service Delivery Manager – Australasia East

Zhenyu Luo Surveyor

Cairns QLD

Pino Tatel Senior Surveyor

Wayne Stephen Senior Surveyor

Melbourne VIC

Alfred Wong Lead Surveyor – Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia – Marine

Daniel Cho Senior Surveyor

Jessie Strickland Diversity and Inclusion Manager

John McKenna Senior Surveyor

Luke Gunther M365 Platform Developer – IT

Yulanda Oeyono Technical Support Administrator

Perth WA

Adam Lavis Graduate Surveyor

Alessandra Harvie Project Manager/ Senior Surveyor – Energy Compliance

Andrea Di Cecco Assistant Project Manager Compliance

CH Lim Senior Surveyor

Charlie Magee Lead Surveyor

Dion Alston Project Manager, PTH-CPL Projects

Francis Arakkal Energy Operations Manager WA

Geoff O'Connor Lead Business Development Specialist

Ian Brenchley Projects Team Manager, PTH-CPL Projects

Jo Henry Administrator

Joe Pang Senior Surveyor

Jonathan Achariam Surveyor Marine & Offshore

Luigi Casali Senior Surveyor

Martin Thomas Service Delivery Manager Australasia West

Nanda Varatharajaloo Senior Surveyor

Nick Bone Senior Verification Engineer

Paul Hansford Senior Surveyor in Charge of Marine Operations

Rao Doddi O&G Welding & NDE Specialist & Senior Surveyor

Vijay Kayarat Senior Surveyor Energy Compliance

Joanna Mycroft Senior Surveyor

Richard Palmer Service Delivery Manager – Australasia

Sydney NSW

Adrian Gannon Senior Surveyor (Naval) Marine & Offshore

Andrew Morgan Marine & Offshore Manager NSW

Angela Cheng Service Delivery Support Specialist

Asif Ghauri Account Manager Marine

Graeme Brown Naval Liaison Support Manager

Jake Jacob Client Liaison & Engineering Lead

James Mackenzie Senior Surveyor (Naval), Marine & Offshore

Josie Balana Business Development Support Specialist – Australasia

Martin Zou Senior Surveyor

Rebecca Poon Service Delivery Support Specialist

Remko Hottentot Business Development Manager, Australasia

Stephen McDowall Naval Business Manager – Australasia

Tim Hall Lead Consultancy Specialist – Australasia

Tuan Le Senior Verification Specialist

Philip Ho Surveyor (Naval), Marine & Offshore