American Bureau of Shipping

American Bureau of Shipping
legal form	Non-profit
Seat	Houston , Texas , USA
Number of employees	5500
Branch	Ship Classification Society
Website	www.eagle.org

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), headquartered in Houston , Texas , founded in 1862, is one of the world's leading classification societies for ships, oil rigs and other maritime structures and their components at over 400 locations in more than 100 countries.

The American Shipmasters' Association was founded by John Divine Jones in 1862, renamed the American Bureau of Shipping in 1898 , and officially recognized by the United States in the United States Government Merchant Marine Act, Section 27 , in 1920 .

When the American Airlines plane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001 , it hit the 93rd floor just two floors above the ABS office. All twelve engineers there at that time survived. Only a few months earlier, the company had moved from the 104th floor of the south tower (everyone present died on this floor) to the 91st floor of the north tower.

Because of the accident of the large tanker Prestige on November 13, 2002, Spain sued ABS for compensation of one billion euros, since in their opinion the responsible ABS inspectors extended the approval of the decrepit tanker despite alleged safety defects during an inspection shortly before the accident and for would have found seaworthy . However, new studies indicate that the cause of the accident was not material defects, but a so-called monster wave . A decision is still pending.

Ships that have been measured by the American Bureau of Shipping bear the letters AB on the loading lines ( Plimsoll mark ) amidships.

Web links

• American Bureau of Shipping
• ABS Record - Vessel Information Database Service. Database of ships classified by ABS

Individual evidence

1. ^ The History of the American Bureau of Shipping: 150th Anniversary Edition. (PDF) ABS, p. 19; accessed on January 12, 2014.