The role of class has evolved as the offshore industry has advanced into deeper water and more exacting operating environments. As E&P activities move into even more challenging frontiers, ABS President and CEO Chris Wiernicki explained how class continues to transform to answer the industry’s changing needs.

What is ABS’ role as a class society?

The foundation of class is safety. Whatever role class plays, you can’t ignore that. Everything ABS does has to be true to our mission to promote the security of life and property and to preserve the natural environment.

Initially, oil and gas industry players wanted a class certificate for insurance purposes and proof of compliance with international regulatory requirements. Today the industry is taking advantage of the certification process by incorporating it more fully into maintenance programs to improve asset and equipment reliability and by seeking approval in principle for new technologies required to support boundary-pushing projects.

Operating companies and drilling contractors are looking for ways to advance safely into operational frontiers, to increase uptime, to improve productivity, and to extend the life of offshore assets. Because we work with oil service companies, drilling contractors, and operating companies, we are able to provide greater confidence in the safety of equipment and assets across the board.

We’re always looking at ways to refine and reshape class. To do that, we have to be proactive – working with the industry to develop safety standards, finding pragmatic approaches to safety in new and challenging environments, and advancing solutions that allow safe and efficient operations. This is essential to maintaining the confidence of the industry and to ensuring that the role of class keeps pace with industry needs.

What differentiates ABS as a class society?

Only a handful of class societies have experience with offshore classification, so the question becomes, “How does ABS differentiate itself within this group?”

We have been successful for the last 60 years by helping the industry take on new and challenging situations. ABS was the first society to class an offshore unit, which required us to develop a set of safety requirements using our marine experience and engineering judgment for an application never seen before.

We are a technology-driven organization. My background and training are in engineering, so the person at the helm of ABS understands the importance of technology development and the role technology plays in decision-making.

I believe the ability to apply core engineering and technological knowledge along with our experience will continue to be a key differentiator in developing practical innovative solutions that help the offshore industry move forward.

Another significant difference is that we know the offshore industry is different from the marine classification business. We have a separate Offshore Technical Committee made up of industry experts to provide guidance on rule development specifically for the offshore oil and gas industry. And we have organized our technology group to create a specific offshore-focused team.

Frankly, though, I think the key differentiator is our people. ABS employees are passionate about what they do, and they understand the value of safety and how the things they do touch their clients.

How is ABS working with offshore players?

As I mentioned earlier, ABS classed the first offshore unit. And we have been involved in every single barrier-breaking technology in the industry since that time. We classed the first jackup, semisubmersible, drillship, FPSO, tension-leg platform, and spar.

I’m proud of our history, but I’m equally proud of how we are working globally on pioneering projects.

Part of our edge is that we realize that although a lot of R&D goes on in Houston, not everything is US-centric. We recognized several years ago that developing technology centers in dynamic areas around the world would allow us to carry out R&D efforts closer to our clients. Today ABS has R&D facilities in Singapore, Brazil, Korea, and China.

What is in the future for class societies?

While the future is uncertain, one thing can’t change. Class societies can’t lose their focus on safety. That is nonnegotiable. The other thing they have to retain is their independence. The value of a class society is its unique position in the industry as an independent broker of safety. We must never lose sight of the fact that we trade on integrity and must earn the trust of the industry every day.

Safety is a responsibility, not a business. It should never be for sale. And to be effective, safety has to be implemented impartially and objectively. ABS has no shareholders or owners, so we offer a truly independent, unbiased view.

When I think about the class of the future, I always look back to ABS’ first foray into the offshore, classing an offshore unit in the absence of established requirements. We had to develop groundbreaking guidelines and rules. We have to continue to be groundbreaking if we’re going to support the offshore industry in the future. Owners and operators want to improve efficiencies, increase production, and minimize downtime. Part of our job is to help them do those things safely.

That’s why we are developing tools like the Independent Software Quality Management (ISQM) system. ISQM reduces commissioning time for newbuilds and provides a framework for coordinating and controlling software development, integration, and maintenance. It is an example of how ABS has evolved in response to industry needs to address the next generation of safety systems. Our clients expect this. They rely on us to assist them in solving tough problems that allow them to maintain the highest safety standards without disrupting operations.

Last year we updated our drilling systems certification requirements to make sure these are suitably robust, and we worked closely with industry to develop the next generation of safety standards for well control equipment. We also participated in several BOP safety improvement and reliability programs with US and Norwegian regulators and industry groups.

ABS’ ability to respond quickly and to meet industry needs has earned us a formidable position today and places us firmly where we need to be to play a leading role tomorrow. Our continued goal is to work with industry to break down the technology barriers that constrain the scope and extent of offshore operations.