1. Summary

Veritas' coat of arms. https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?curid=1471064

DNV GL's history dates from 1864, when Det Norske Veritas was established in Norway to head technical inspection and evaluation of Norwegian merchant vessels.^[1] On the other hand, Germanischer Lloyd was founded in Hamburg around the same period in 1867 by a group of 600 ship owners, ship builders and insurers.^[2] DNV GL celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2014.^[3]

On December 20, 2012, the two companies announced the merger,^[4] which was approved by competition authorities in South Korea, the US, the EU^[5] and China, thus allowing the merger contract between DNV and GL to be signed on September 12, 2013. The independent Det Norske Veritas Foundation owned 63.5% of DNV GL shares and Mayfair Vermögensverwaltung 36.5%.until December 2017, when Mayfair sold its shares to the Det Norske Veritas Foundation.^[6]

Together with Bureau Veritas and American Bureau of Shipping, DNV GL is one of the three major companies in the classification business with 300 offices in 100 different countries. The company is also a key player in strategic innovation and risk management for several other industries including renewable energy (particularly in wind and solar), oil and gas, electric power generation and distribution, petrochemicals, aviation, automotives, finance, food and beverage, healthcare, software and information technology.

2. Research

Every year, DNV GL invests heavily in research and development, amounting to 5% of its total revenue.^[7] Since 1864, DNV GL has always maintained a department dedicated to research that enhances and develops services, rules and standards for various industries. Many of the innovations and findings by DNV GL have often been used as a basis for international standards.

As of 2019, the main research programs^[8] include maritime, oil & gas, power & renewables, precision medicine, digital assurance, ocean space, energy transition, climate risk and opportunities. DNV GL publishes its independent Energy Transition Outlook annually.^[9] The third edition was published in 2019 .

3. Organization

DNV GL is organised into five business areas:^[10]

• DNV GL — Maritime: Classification, verification, risk-management, training and technical advisory to the maritime industry on safety, enhanced performance, fuel efficiency, etc. As a classification society, DNV GL sets standards for ships and offshore structures, known as Class Rules. They comprise safety, reliability and environmental requirements that vessels and other offshore mobile structures in international waters must comply with. DNV GL is authorized by 130 maritime administrations to perform certification or verification on their behalf.
• DNV GL — Oil & Gas: Technical advisor to the global oil and gas industry, services in technical and marine assurance and advisory, risk management and offshore classification. DNV GL works with upstream oil and gas companies to identify and control risk, improve safety and performance, and assure reliability of a project's development and operation. The company develops industry standards and best practices through joint industry projects (JIPs), bringing together a number of industry players to address specific technical challenges. As an example, about 65% of the world's offshore pipelines are designed and installed to DNV GL's technical standards.
• DNV GL — Energy: Counselling, testing, and certification services to the global energy sector, including: renewable energy, emissions, energy efficiency, power production, transfer, and distribution. DNV GL operates the world's largest high power and voltage test laboratory, working as an independent, accredited certifier of electricity transmission & distribution components. DNV GL is also the leading independent advisor and certifier to the renewable industry, notably within wind energy.^[11] Its services include wind turbine type certification, design consultancy, energy yield assessments, site assessments, permitting, solar plants and turbine design, wind and solar forecasting, and front-end engineering. In addition, DNV GL's energy arm has advisory services in energy efficiency, renewable integration, clean conventional power generation, renewable plant operations improvement services, transmission and distribution grids, energy storage, measurements and cyber security.
• DNV GL — Business Assurance: Certification, assessment, training/education services that support customer products, processes, and organizations over a wide spectrum of fields. DNV GL is an accredited certification body. They certify the compliance of companies according to a third party standard, such as ISO 9001 (quality management system) or ISO 14001 (environmental management system). DNV GL has issued management system certificates to more than 70,000 companies across all industry sectors and is an accredited certifier in 80 countries. They also provides accreditation and clinical excellence certifications to American hospitals.
• DNV GL — Digital Solutions: A provider of digital solutions for managing risk and improving safety and asset performance for ships, pipelines, processing plants, offshore structures, electric grids, smart cities and more.

4. Standards & Regulations

DNV GL provides a list of standards and regulations to the public:

• DNV Rules for Classification of Ships
• DNV Rules for Classification of High Speed, Light Craft and Naval Surface Craft
• DNV Statutory Interpretations
• DNV Service Specifications
• DNV Offshore Service Specifications
• DNV Standards
• DNV Offshore Standards
• DNV Recommended Practices
• DNV Standards for Certification
• DNV Programmes for Approval of Manufacturers
• DNV Programmes for Approval of Service Suppliers
• DNV Type Approval Programmes
• DNV Type Approval Programmes for EU recognised organisation Mutual Recognition (MR)
• DNV Type Approval Programmes for Marine Equipment Directive (MED)
• DNV Guidelines
• DNV Classification Notes
• DNV Rules for Other Objects