The shipping industry is facing tremendous opportunities as new ways of doing business are being adopted by industry worldwide. Outsourcing of company’s own services has become one way of increasing efficiency and reducing costs. Is the shipping industry ready for such a change?Teekay Shipping in Canada is one of the pioneers paving the way for new approaches to old, traditional ways of handling ship operations.

Through the new Framework Agreement with DNV, Teekay is making use of class expertise in a number of fields, such as risk management, training, safety management, as well as traditional classification services.
According to Sam Behramfram at DNV Vancouver, the agreement would have been impossible to implement without Teekay's strong commitment to safety and quality. The company has established a streamlined organisation with a safety management system constructed on a risk-based approach, which is in line with DNV’s risk-management philosophy.

The Teekay organisation has recently been reorganised from its original functional base to six different ship teams supported by cross-functional services. It has proved to be a success with regard to operational efficiency, which has enhanced Teekay's ability to optimise voyages to its customers' benefit. Teekay's modern fleet has an average age of 9.1 years, mostly Aframax tankers. An interactive, computer-based safety management system has been implemented on all its 69 vessels.