Over the past 60 years, the Korean Register (KR) has developed into a mainstream international classification society.
Among the highlights was becoming a member of the elite International Association of Classification Societies in 1988.
But two major casualties that claimed 326 lives have cast a shadow over its development and put its safety record under the spotlight.
The catastrophic break-up of the converted 266,000-dwt bulker Stellar Daisy (built 1993) in 2017, with the loss of 22 crew, and the capsizing of the enlarged 6,800-ton ferry Sewol (built 1994) in 2014 have inevitably led to difficult questions for the company that provided safety certification to both vessels.
