ABS: Christopher Wiernicki steps down as CEO

The Chairman and CEO of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Christopher Wiernicki, will step down at the end of the year.

His successor next year will be John McDonald, current President and COO of the classification society.

Wiernicki has headed ABS since 2013, when he took over from Robert Somerville. He joined ABS in 1993, having previously served as president and CEO of the shipbuilding firm Designers and Planners.

Founded in 1862, the American Bureau of Shipping is the third largest classification society in the world, behind DNV and ClassnK, and the largest in the tanker segment. In November, ABS had inspected a fleet of 11,500 ships with 298 million GT and, according to Wiernicki, is “number one in the global order book”.