American Bureau of Shipping

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 platforms and other marine structures and their components in over 400 locations in more than 100 countries.

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

As the plane of American Airlines on 11 September 2001 at 8:46 clock raced into the north tower of the World Trade Center, it hit the 93rd floor only two floors above the ABS office. All twelve located at this time there engineers survived. Only a few months before the company from the 104th floor of the South Tower in the 91st floor of the North Tower ( on this floor all present died ) pulled.

Because of the sinking of the bulk tanker Prestige on 13 November 2002, Spain has sued ABS for compensation of one billion euros, since the competent ABS auditors despite alleged safety deficiencies extended their opinion authorizing the decrepit tanker during an inspection shortly before the accident and for that would have been seaworthy. However, new studies suggest that no material error, but a so-called monster wave was cause for the accident. A decision is still pending.