American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)
Spring, United States
ABS is a classification society that develops and applies rules for hull, structural, and equipment condition through vessel and offshore-unit surveys, including newbuild and in-service hull inspections. It classes commercial vessels and offshore facilities and is one of the largest class societies by classed fleet.
- Headquarters
- Spring, United States
- Founded
- 1862
- Website
- ww2.eagle.org
- Legal name
- American Bureau of Shipping
- Employees
- 5,001-10,000
- Contact
- absservicedesk@eagle.org
- Phone
- 1-281-877-6000
- Company page ↗
Geographic coverage
- United States (headquarters: 1701 City Plaza Drive, Spring, Texas)
- 200+ offices across approximately 70 countries worldwide
Notable facts
- Originated as the American Shipmasters' Association, founded in New York in 1862, renamed American Bureau of Shipping in 1898
- World headquarters at 1701 City Plaza Drive, Spring, Texas
- Reported to be the second-largest class society with a classed fleet of over 12,000 commercial vessels and offshore facilities as of 2020
Verified credentials
- International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) - member society
- International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) - Member (per IACS's own Annual Review 2023 member directory, listing "ABS / American Bureau of Shipping" with www.eagle.org / abs-worldhq@eagle.org)
✓ = confirmed on the accrediting body's own public registry. (unverified) = the provider's own claim, not independently confirmed in a registry. Never take a certification claim at face value; verify directly with the issuing body before you retain a vendor. See methodology.
Service categories
Sources. This profile is compiled from public reference data, WebSearch-verified againstsource 1 · source 2. Data as of 2026-07-11. See methodology.
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