RINA is a private, multinational company headquartered in Genoa, Italy. It was founded in 1861 under the name Registro Italiano Navale (Italian Naval Register). That same year, following the enforcement of a 1994 European Council directive regarding the inspection, survey and certification of ships that liberalized the ship classification market, the Registro Italiano Navale transferred all operational activities to RINA S.p.A., making it the sole, and later, majority shareholder. Until 1999, RINA worked almost exclusively as a ship classification company, and has since included operations in the following sectors: Energy and Mobility, Marine, Certification, Industry and Real Estate and Infrastructure. The company has also expanded its services in the fields of testing, inspection and certification and engineering consultancy. History Registro Italiano Navale RINA was founded as operational company RINA S.p.A. by Registro Italiano Navale, a private body founded in Genoa in 1861, to resolve a number of economic concerns involved in the maritime transport sector. It is the third-oldest ship classification register in the world, after the English Lloyd’s Register (1760) and the French Bureau Veritas (1828). It is also a founding member of the IACS, a non-governmental organization that currently consists of twelve member marine classification societies. In its first 140 years, the Registro Italiano Navale operated as a monopoly on ships flying the Italian flag. Subsequently, a European directive came into force, which liberalized the ship classification and related activities, and led the Registro to enter for the first time a competitive market. RINA S.p.A. In 1999, the Registro Italiano Navale transferred all the operational activities to a brand-new company, RINA S.p.A., of which it then became the sole shareholder, now the majority shareholder. Currently, the Registro Italiano Navale is a private non-profit organization, comparable to a foundation. RINA Services S.p.A. In 2009, RINA Services S.p.A. was established, a company to which RINA S.p.A. transferred the authorisations and accreditations relating to classification, certification, auditing and testing services. In the following years, RINA acquired three companies operating in the consulting engineering market, D’Appolonia (2011), Centro Sviluppo Materiali (2014) and Edif Group Limited (2016). In 2017, D’Appolonia was rebranded as RINA Consulting. Organisation and structure The group is headed by RINA S.p.A., which acts as the holding company and no longer carries out operational activities, but provides the group with administrative, organisational and financial services. As parent company, RINA S.p.A. also controls the two main sub-holdings RINA Services S.p.A. and