Exova Warringtonfire recently hosted a delegation of senior representatives from the China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association (CCYIA) to discuss providing testing and certification services to Chinese suppliers of interior materials and products for Chinese-built passenger ships.

The meeting was proposed by the Department for International Trade (DIT) Northwest England in order to help promote UK capability in marine fire testing and advisory services to the CCYIA.

According to Philomena Chen, Head of Asia Pacific at DIT, the main intention is to achieve, via a partnership agreement, that Element becomes a preferred supplier of fire test procedure (FTP) testing services and marine equipment directive (MED) certification for Chinese material and product suppliers to the passenger ship markets.

“China has a long history of shipbuilding. However, supporting materials and products for cruise vessels do not currently satisfy requirements in terms of product diversity, safety and quality. The potential of China’s cruise and yacht industry is enormous and, having now established a strategic cooperation with Element, we are excited to move forward with the next stages of this collaboration,” said Zhaoben Zhang, executive president, CCYIA.