Antitrust and Data Aggregation Policy
International Marine Risk Rating Agency (IMRRA) is an independent professional organization functioning as an individual nonprofit entity in all its activity adhering to its objective to promote maritime safety and prevention of pollution by ships by enabling industry participants to use independent analysis (vetting) as benchmarks and tools to protect the environment and themselves from risks that threaten business efficiency and expediency.
We recognize the possibility that IMRRA, and its activities, could be viewed by some as an opportunity for anti-competitive conduct. Therefore, this policy statement clearly and unequivocally supports the policy of competition served by the antitrust laws and to communicate the International Marine Risk Rating Agency uncompromising policy to comply strictly in all respects with those laws.
International Marine Risk Rating Agency (IMRRA) is not agents or a representative of any organization.
IMRRA website receives voluntary support from completely independent organizations that have no business connection or common commercial interest.
The information provided by participating companies, particularly that used to identify, monitor and manage risks is limited to end results of their risk assessment process necessary to fulfill risk rating requirements. All data concerning inspection results and confidential inspection-related information remains solely in possession of participating companies.
It is the strict policy of IMRRA and participating companies to engage in fair competition, in compliance in all respects with antitrust and competition laws of the EU, the USA, Russia and China.
Participants in IMRRA activities are committed both to strict compliance with the antitrust laws, and to the avoidance of any appearance of improper or anticompetitive conduct such as:
- Discussing or exchanging information with actual or potential competitors regarding matters relating to actual or potential individual suppliers or customers that might exclude them from any market or of influencing the business conduct of firms toward such suppliers or customers.
- Limiting or eliminating competition in any way, or efforts to create a monopoly.
- Discussing restrictions upon production, boycotts or refusals to deal.
- Discussing selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.
- Discuss allocation or geographic division or service markets or customers.
- Discussing any issues about restricting, limiting, prohibiting, or sanctioning advertising or solicitation that is not false, misleading, deceptive, or directly competitive with Agency products or services.
- Discussing or discouraging entry into or competition in any segment of the marine shipping industry.
Aiming at making processes of marine risk assessment and management more transparent and comprehensive for all industry participants, IMRRA uses aggregated data, collected from numerous independent open industry sources, to create summary statistics that allow to assess the average and calculate rates of existing and/or possible risks that the industry participants might face in their operations.
The marinerating.com website is created purely as a tool that can be used for marine safety improvements in terms of strengthening the capability and the status of the risk function to make sound judgments. The results are not intended to be the sole source for any commercial decisions.