[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 541]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE AMERICAN BUREAU OF SHIPPING ON THEIR 150TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GENE GREEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 31, 2012

  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
American Bureau of Shipping for their 150 years at the forefront of 
setting the standard of excellence in marine and offshore 
classification in the United States and around the world.
  From its world headquarters in Houston, Texas, the American Bureau of 
Shipping, or ABS, manages the third largest class society on the globe, 
with a classed fleet of over 10,000 commercial vessels, in more than 
150 offices in 70 countries.
  From the time it was first chartered in the State of New York in 1862 
as the American Shipmasters' Association, ABS has been committed to the 
maritime industry and deeply involved in its technical development and 
the improvement of its safety standards.
  Born out of a need for industry self-regulation, ABS published its 
first technical standards, Rules for Survey and Classing Wooden 
Vessels, in 1870. When the era of wooden ships gave way to iron, ABS 
established standards for these structures, and later for steel 
vessels.
  ABS was officially recognized by the U.S. Government in the Merchant 
Marine Act of 1920, requiring that in work involving a classification 
organization, every governmental agency in the United States would turn 
to ABS.
  ABS has continued its tradition of leading the classification and 
maritime safety industry through the 20th and 21st centuries by being 
the first society to publish rules for the construction and classing of 
offshore drilling units, submersibles, and aluminum vessels, as well as 
the first society to classify small-waterplane-area twin hull (or 
SWATH) vessels, floating production storage and offloading (or FPSO) 
vessels.
  I congratulate ABS, its board of directors, and its hard-working 
employees for their commitment to the Houston community and for 150 
more years of success as the world leader in maritime classification 
and safety.

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