SINGAPORE and HAMBURG, Germany, January 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Singapore-based International Refinery Services Pte Ltd (IRS) is the latest addition to Germanischer Lloyd (GL). With the acquisition of the asset management expert company, the GL Group expands its service portfolio for the petroleum, oil and gas industry yet again.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090114/334756 )

With IRS, the GL Group adds substantial expertise in risk management and capacity of advanced inspection techniques, said Pekka Paasivaara, Member of the Executive Board Germanischer Lloyd at the press conference in Singapore. Previous acquisitions in Great Britain, Canada, the U.S. and Malaysia over the past 18 months have strengthened the technical portfolio of the GL Group considerably. With its latest acquisition, GL will be able to provide extended services specifically to the oil and gas industry in the Asia-Pacific region.

Germanischer Lloyd offers engineering consultancy, technical assurance, asset management, risk and safety consultancy, industrial inspections and software solutions to the oil gas industry. The holistic service offering is directed at owners and operators of complex plants and installations. Complemented by the British Advantica Group, Canadian and U.S. PV Inspection, Kuala Lumpur-based Trident Consultants and U.S.-based Material Consulting Services, the GL Group's range of oil and gas services extends across the asset life cycle. With the additional expertise of IRS, Germanischer Lloyd will now be able to further extend its network and service portfolio especially in Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region.

About IRS

Since its inception in 1992, IRS has contributed to the safety, reliability and environmental performance of onshore and offshore installations, pipelines, terminals, refineries and all types of chemical plant throughout South East Asia and the Middle East. The risk engineering and inspection management company assists operators to manage plants more efficiently through both online and offline-based inspections. 80 engineers with both field and analytic expertise are active for customers throughout South East Asia as well as the Middle East, and China. IRS operates offices in Singapore (Head Office), Australia, Malaysia, Brunei, Pakistan, Philippines.

With their risk engineering expertise, IRS offers structural and earthquake engineering, evaluation of structural deterioration, offshore jacket design and inspection plans, design of underwater structural repairs, LNG storage and terminal design assessments as well as finite element analysis of complex structural configurations. Advanced inspection techniques offered by IRS utilize state-of-the-art technology to evaluate pressure vessels, storage tanks, piping and heat exchangers for their continued mechanical integrity. This includes long range ultrasonic pipeline evaluations, acoustic emission testing, magnetic flux scanning and other special ultrasonic thickness measurement methodologies.

IRS' Total Asset Integrity Management Services (TAIMS) incorporate all the elements of a process safety management system like Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHA 1910.119) with the risk based techniques and advanced inspection technologies necessary to achieve the continued operational and mechanical integrity of the asset. Their risk management tools include various management processes and tools such as HAZOPS, QRA, RBI that are necessary to identify, evaluate and monitor risks associated with the asset.

About Germanischer Lloyd

Germanischer Lloyd (GL) is an international inspection, certification and technical consultancy company as well as a ship classification society. Both business fields follow the same approach of technical competence, uncompromising quality and first-class services around the world. The company with its head office in Hamburg (Germany) employs more than 5,000 engineers, surveyors, experts and administrative staff in 77 countries. The global network consists of more than 200 stations and site offices around the globe.

As an inspection, certification and technical consultancy company GL offers sophisticated technical services addressing all safety and risk issues of installations related to energy production, storage and transportation. Germanischer Lloyd offers a one stop shopping approach for its worldwide customer base including comprehensive technical services across the asset life cycle.

In the oil gas business segment Germanischer Lloyd's range of services extends to project consulting for oil and gas production, storage, subsea technology, LNG terminals, pipeline engineering as well as gas, electricity and water distribution networks. This is complemented with the corresponding software solutions and consulting services for installation performance, maintenance and process control.

Intensive consultancy, accompanied by inspection and certification procedures, provides customized support for manufacturers, operators, banks and investors at all stages in the value-added chain of industrial plants, such as planning and development, construction, commissioning, operation as well as dismantling and shutdowns.

The scope of capabilities, presented together with member companies of the GL Group, the British-based Advantica Group, Canadian PV Inspection, Malaysia's Trident Consultants and U.S. Material Consultancy Services comprises design review and verification, risk assessments, quality assurance and control (QA/QC), acceptance tests, asset integrity management and condition monitoring as well as large-scale hazard testing.

Germanischer Lloyd is also providing technical expertise to all players in the expanding renewable energy markets around the world including site assessment, type approval and consultancy.

Maritime Services

Ship owners, shipyards, the maritime supply industry and some 130 flag states are the primary customers of Germanischer Lloyd's ship classification activities. It's ship register contains a large number of multi-purpose vessels and high speed crafts, tanker and bulk carries as well as navy vessels including submarines.

GL is dedicated to ensuring the safety of life and property at sea, and the prevention of pollution of the marine environment. Our safety and quality philosophy is based on qualified and well trained personnel capable of working in different cultural environments. Being an independent third party, GL is a dynamic, innovative, forward-thinking, expansion-minded organisation. We focus on developing state of the art rules, procedures and guidance in order to offer relevant answers in times of economic challenges and tight regulatory regimes. The number of vessels which are surveyed by GL experts are close to 6,700 with 77 million GT. In 2010, the fleet in service will surpass the 100 million GT threshold.

Press contact: Germanischer Lloyd Corporate Communications, Tel. +49(0)40-36149-4509, Fax +49(0)40-36149-250, pr@gl-group.com . Your contacts are Dr. Olaf Mager and Stefanie Normann-Birkholz. This press release is available at http://www.gl-group.com.

Press contact: Germanischer Lloyd Corporate Communications, Tel. +49(0)40-36149-4509, Fax +49(0)40-36149-250, pr@gl-group.com. Your contacts are Dr. Olaf Mager and Stefanie Normann-Birkholz