American Bureau of Shipping

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American Bureau of Shipping is a Classification Society with headquarters in Houston, Texas. ABS was founded in 1862 and today it is one of the "big three" in the industry, together with Lloyd's Register and Det Norske Veritas.

Besides its US headquarter, ABS has regional headquarters in London, Doha, and Singapore, and a number of smaller offices in about 70 countries. The ABS's current President and Chief Operating Officer is Robert E. Kramek, who is scheduled to retire at the end of 2006.

ABS operated a New York office at the 91st floor of the World Trade Center North Tower until September 11, 2001. All employees of the company escaped the building collapse.

While the ABS has for years maintained a good reputation, some events have led to questions regarding the effectiveness of the shipping industry self governance represented by Classification societies. In the Marine Board of Investigation inquiry into the sinking of the SS Marine Electric, US Coast Guard Captain Domini Caliccio questioned whether the ABS had an inherent conflict of interest in that its fees are paid by ship owners. His recommendation that ABS be relieved of hull inspection duties was rejected by the Coast Guard Commandant and the ABS increasingly has assumed many inspection duties once the province of the government inspectors.

Controversy surfaced anew recently with the sinking of the MV Prestige off the coast of Spain. Damages to beaches and fishing ground ran past the tens of millions and the government of Spain sued the ABS for certifying the hull of the Prestige, which Spain maintained clearly was aged and unfit. The ABS has vigorously defended itself against such accusations, and pointed to Spain's refusal to allow the damaged vessel safe refuge inshore; the ship was instead ordered to sea where it sank.

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