22 April 2026, Singapore – The Dry Bulk Centre of Excellence (DBCE) welcomes Rio Tinto as a member, marking a significant milestone as the first major charterer to join the initiative.The announcement was made at Rio Tinto’s Designated Owners & Operators (DOO) Annual Forum during Singapore Maritime Week 2026, underscoring the company’s commitment to advancing safety, quality, and performance across the dry bulk sector.
Rio Tinto’s entry into DBCE reflects its role as a thought leader in the maritime industry. By aligning its internal DOO standards with the Dry Bulk Management Standard (DryBMS), Rio Tinto is helping to drive a more unified, consistent, and high-performance management standard across the global dry bulk fleet.
As a leading charterer, Rio Tinto is leveraging its position to uplift standards beyond compliance. Its extensive safety expectations and operational requirements, are increasingly linked to the structured, measurable excellence levels defined within DryBMS.
Through this alignment, Rio Tinto is also extending its influence across the industry. With many DOO partners already familiar with DryBMS through its vetting processes, this development is expected to further reinforce adoption of the framework, supporting a more unified and standardised approach to performance and safety across the global fleet.
This move signals a broader shift towards greater standardisation and unification of management practices in dry bulk shipping, reducing fragmentation and enabling more transparent, comparable performance outcomes across operators.
Michael Phoon, Managing Director of DBCE, said:
“Rio Tinto’s decision to join DBCE as our first charterer member is a strong endorsement of the role DryBMS plays in driving consistent, high-performance standards across the industry. We are encouraged by Rio Tinto’s commitment and look forward to their leadership in shaping the future of the framework, while accelerating wider adoption of DryBMS to support a safer and more sustainable dry bulk sector.”
DBCE looks forward to working closely with Rio Tinto and its partners to further strengthen the DryBMS framework, enhance industry alignment, and drive broader adoption across the maritime value chain.
ENDS
About DBCE
DBCE is an independent, not-for-profit industry organisation dedicated to raising standards and best practices in dry shipping through the implementation of the DryBMS framework, founded by RightShip and INTERCARGO.
Contact Information
For more information, please contact info@dbce.org
