C-Suite Interview: Hayato Suga, President & CEO, ClassNK
Classification societies have always occupied a unique position in maritime: technical arbiters, rule makers, certifiers, and, increasingly, strategic advisors helping shipowners navigate some of the most consequential decisions in shipping’s and shipbuilding’s history. As maritime grapples with decarbonization mandates, digital transformation, automation, and the growing influence of artificial intelligence, that role is becoming both broader and more complex.
For ClassNK, one of the world’s largest and leading classification societies, the challenge is not simply keeping pace with industry change, but helping define how that change unfolds.
For President and CEO Hayato Suga, who took the helm just over a year ago after nearly four decades with the organization, the industry’s current moment is unlike anything he has seen in his career.
Suga hails from Hiroshima and graduated Hiroshima University, joining ClassNK in 1986. “This was a time when the maritime industry was facing a significant downturn,” said Suga. “While many of my classmates chose to pursue careers in other industries, such as the automotive sector, I deliberately chose this field. Rather than focusing on a narrow area of specialization, I was motivated by a desire to contribute to the maritime industry as a more comprehensive field. For that reason, I aspired to build a career in classification, where I believed I could gain broad experience and make meaningful contributions to society.”
That thinking naturally led him to classification.
“I wanted a more comprehensive role,” Suga said, explaining that classification offered exposure not only to ship design and survey work, but also regulation, certification, development and broader industry engagement.
That long view has culminated in him taking the top leadership role of a storied organization that today spans roughly 130 offices worldwide, employs approximately 2,000 people, and classifies about 9,700 vessels totaling roughly 280 million gross tons, placing it among the world’s largest classification societies.
But sheer scale is only part of the story. The larger question is how classification evolves as shipping itself is fundamentally redefined.
Image courtesy ClassNK
From Ideas to Execution
When Suga assumed the CEO role, his message internally was simple: move from ideas to action, and that shift is already visible. Over the past year, ClassNK has accelerated approvals in principle (AIPs) for emerging technologies and designs, expanded technical guidance, launched environmental cost simulation services, and invested in new internal structures to better respond to increasingly complex client needs. Still, Suga is not describing incremental change.
He sees the organization entering a period where responsiveness itself becomes a competitive differentiator.
Shipowners today are not simply seeking technical compliance. They are trying to make expensive strategic decisions amid uncertainty around fuels, regulations, vessel design, digitalization, and operational risk. That changes the nature of what a classification society must deliver.
For Suga, classification is evolving beyond its traditional role as a certifier toward becoming a faster, more integrated technical decision-support partner.
That evolution is being reinforced structurally. This year, ClassNK established a dedicated Digital Division, reflecting the belief that emerging technologies, particularly AI, will reshape both shipping and classification itself.
AI: The Defining Technology
Ask Suga to identify the single most consequential technical trend shaping future ship design and operations, and he answers without hesitation: artificial intelligence. That is a notable response in an industry still focused heavy metal, alternate fuels and decarbonization.
“The use of AI is not limited to improving efficiency,” said Suga. “AI is expected to be applied in many fields, and has the potential to drive organizational transformation through more efficient operations, and even to transform business models themselves.”
“Specifically, AI has the power to fundamentally enhance the services we provide, in areas such as risk prediction, ship safety assessment, and the optimization of environmental impact,” said Suga. “We believe we are now at an important stage where we must establish clear directions for AI governance and move more quickly and reliably toward execution.”
The implications for classification are significant. AI can improve risk prediction, enhance safety assessments, optimize environmental performance, streamline surveys, and fundamentally change how technical services are delivered.
Internally, ClassNK is already using generic AI tools to improve workforce productivity and operational efficiency. But Suga’s ambitions go further. The organization is developing more specialized maritime-focused AI applications designed to support both internal workflows and client services.
One practical use case involves customer interaction. Routine owner inquiries that today may require multiple exchanges and significant staff time could be dramatically accelerated through purpose-built AI systems capable of generating more precise, technically informed responses. Tasks that currently consume one or two hours could potentially be reduced to minutes. “To strengthen our response to these digital technologies, we established a Digital Division this April 2026 and will advance these efforts in a more structured way,” said Suga.
But Suga is equally clear-eyed about the risks.
As AI becomes more deeply embedded in operational decision-making, governance questions become unavoidable. Black-box decision logic, unclear accountability, and legal liability all become critical concerns.
For a classification society, this introduces a dual responsibility. First, using AI responsibly within its own operations; second, developing the expertise to assess AI-driven technologies being deployed by shipowners, shipyards and equipment manufacturers. That second role may become especially important as autonomous systems mature, because if AI becomes central to navigation support, machinery management, shipyard robotics, or autonomous vessel decision-making, classification will inevitably be asked to validate those systems.
The author (left) and ClassNK President and CEO Hayato Suga.
Navigating the Fuel Transition
If AI is the most transformative digital trend, fuel transition remains the maritime industry’s most immediate strategic dilemma, and trust that the uncertainty around fuel transition and the ‘future fuel’ remains profound. Shipowners are faced with making vessel design and fleet decisions today that will resonate for three decades or longer, decisions on fuel type and flexibility that could ultimately make or break a company.
When it comes to fuel transition, Suga’s answer is pragmatic rather than ideological: there will be no single winner, there is no ‘silver bullet’ solution.
“During the fuel transition period, we expect multiple solutions to develop in parallel,” said Suga. “In the short term, options such as biofuels and LNG will be used, followed by cleaner choices including blue fuels, and eventually a shift toward green fuels. As for the types of fuels that will be available in the future, this will depend on further technological development and investment, as it is difficult at this stage to narrow down to a single option. It is also highly likely that multiple fuels will continue to coexist, depending on vessel types and operational needs.”
While the journey has started, the exact endpoint remains uncertain, and that uncertainty is not simply technical, it is regulatory, too.
Suga repeatedly emphasizes the degree to which fuel transition will be shaped by policy frameworks rather than purely voluntary action. While large owners with strong ESG commitments and deep pockets are moving more aggressively, broad industry transformation and uptake will depend heavily on regulatory signals.
But for all shipowners of every size, from the smallest ‘mom and pop’ fleet to the largest shipowners making billion-dollar capital decisions and investments, this ambiguity complicates everything, and that is where classification’s advisory role becomes increasingly valuable.
ClassNK is positioned as both a technical validator and strategic interpreter, helping owners understand not only what regulations require, but why they exist and how different compliance pathways may evolve.
Yet Suga repeatedly returns to a simpler truth often overshadowed by fuel debates: efficiency still matters.
Energy-saving technologies, including wind-assisted propulsion, advanced coatings, voyage optimization, and broader operational efficiency measures, remain some of the most reliable and cost-effective emissions reduction tools available to all vessel owners of every shape and size today.
Even in a zero-emission fuel future, reducing consumption will remain economically critical. That logic has not changed.
Classification as Strategic Advisor
The classification model itself is changing. Historically, classification societies primarily evaluated technical compliance against established rules. That role remains foundational, but owners increasingly expect more: they need insight.
“Classification societies support shipowners facing complex technical challenges by providing reliable third-party certification and practical insights to help their decision-making,” said Suga. “For example, at ClassNK, we support decision-making by sharing insights on topics such as the adoption of alternative fuels, technological trends, and developments in environmental regulations. We also contribute to supporting the practical implementation perspective of new technologies by assessing their safety and reliability. In addition, we provide training and education services to help strengthen human capital within our clients’ organizations.”
“Furthermore, we place strong emphasis on prompt and responsive surveys and inspections, ensuring timely service delivery. Beyond traditional classification services, we also actively provide certification services in areas where our expertise is required.”
Whether it is alternative fuel guidance, regulatory interpretation, technology assessments or practical implementation advice; ClassNK is leaning into that broader remit. Suga describes classification’s role as helping owners make informed decisions by combining independent certification with technical intelligence.
That includes research functions designed to track fuel developments, regulatory trends, and emerging technologies, giving owners clearer context before major investments are made.
Once strategic direction is established, ClassNK’s technical teams, through certification and survey, confirm that the technology is ready for actual installation, helping ensure safe and smooth implementation. This is especially important because complexity is increasing everywhere.
Shipowners face increasingly interconnected technical questions involving machinery, fuels, digital systems, compliance frameworks, and operational risk. It’s no small matter that shipyards face similar uncertainty.
Classification’s value lies partly in bridging those information gaps.
A Differentiated Model
The classification sector is highly competitive, with several major global players operating across overlapping markets. Suga believes ClassNK’s differentiation begins with organizational focus.
Unlike some competitors with broader industrial certification portfolios, ClassNK remains heavily concentrated in classification-related work. That specialization, he argues, creates deeper expertise and stronger organizational alignment.
But the more interesting differentiator may be organizational structure. ClassNK’s long-term employment culture has produced a workforce combining deep specialists with professionals whose experience spans plan approval, ship surveys, audits and development work. That cross-functional familiarity enables faster internal coordination and more cohesive responses to client needs. Suga frames this as a meaningful competitive advantage.
Rather than fragmented interactions between isolated departments, clients receive more integrated technical engagement. It is, in many ways, a distinctly Japanese management philosophy applied to a global technical business.
Technology Inside the Survey Process
“At ClassNK, we are investing in advanced digital technologies, including remote surveys, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our survey and certification services, as well as to enhance safety,” said Suga. Digital transformation is not limited to the ships themselves, in how they are designed, built, outfitted and maintained for their service lives. Digital transformation touches every aspect of the maritime industry – one generally classified as conservative and moving forward at a glacial pace. With that, ClassNK is also modernizing its ‘digital transformation,’ specifically how core classification work gets done.
Remote survey capability has become one of the most practical examples. Geopolitical disruptions in regions like the Middle East have underscored the operational importance of maintaining inspection and certification continuity when physical access becomes difficult or unsafe. Remote survey tools provide that resilience. Beyond continuity, digital tools are also reshaping efficiency. “By using AI for image analysis and initial data checks, we aim to create an environment where surveyors can focus more on important decisions and risk assessment,” said Suga.
AI-assisted image analysis, automated data screening, and smarter pre-inspection workflows could allow surveyors to spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time focused on higher-value technical judgment.
It’s important to realize that the objective is not replacing surveyors, it’s enabling them to concentrate on risk evaluation, decision-making and technical oversight. The same thinking extends into shipbuilding, where AI and robotics are beginning to influence construction methods, inspection practices, and future compliance frameworks.
The Road Ahead
For Suga, perhaps the biggest leadership challenge is trust. As shipping becomes more regulated, more transparent, and more technologically complex, the number of stakeholders touching classification expands: fuel suppliers; technology developers; autonomy providers; software firms; investors; regulators; and charterers. “As a certification body, we recognize that improving awareness and trust among a wider range of stakeholders is one of our key challenges going forward,” said Suga.
That changes the visibility, expectations, and accountability surrounding classification societies.
ClassNK’s response is not to become something fundamentally different, but to extend its traditional strengths into new adjacent needs.
Suga is clear that the organization remains focused first on serving shipping rather than diversifying for diversification’s sake.
That philosophy reflects ClassNK’s roots as an industry institution rather than a purely commercial enterprise.
And perhaps that is the broader story. At a time when shipping is navigating one of the most disruptive transitions in its history, classification societies like ClassNK are a trusted remit for technical expertise, but no longer simply technical gatekeepers.
They are becoming navigators in their own right. For ClassNK, the challenge is ensuring it remains both trusted and relevant as maritime reinvents itself.
Image courtesy ClassNK
