Blomberg is running a story about “non-profits” and the focus is on the American Bureau of Shipping, but it also suggest a too cozy relationship with the Coast Guard.
“Since 1998, ABS has hired four former Coast Guard admirals as executives. They include retired Admiral Robert Kramek, who led the Coast Guard as commandant from 1994 to 1998. It was Kramek who signed an agreement with ABS in 1995 that expanded the nonprofit’s powers to inspect independently owned ships on the Coast Guard’s behalf.”
Evidence of lax standards is suggested, based on the sinking of a tanker and the subsequent environmental damage, after it had been cleared for operation by the ABS in spite of an unfavorable report by one of their own agents.
“Rare details of ABS’s operations emerged following a disaster on the high seas. On Nov. 19, 2002, an oil tanker that had passed a recent ABS inspection split in half during a storm in the Atlantic Ocean and sank. The nonprofit company had approved the 26-year-old single-hulled Prestige, registered in the Bahamas, in May 2002.
“The wreck of the Prestige, 130 miles (225 kilometers) off the coast of Spain, spread more than 50,000 tons of fuel oil along hundreds of miles of Spanish and French beaches and disrupted fishing and tourism, causing damage estimated at more than $1 billion by the Spanish government.
“The Kingdom of Spain sued ABS in U.S. District Court in New York in 2003, claiming the company had behaved recklessly. In a sworn statement in that case, former Prestige Captain Efstratios Kostazos said he informed the tanker owner and ABS that he was leaving the ship two months before it sank.
“During my almost 40 years of going to sea, I have never seen a vessel in this poor condition that was still in actual service,” he wrote.
“Former ABS surveyor John Lee said in a sworn statement that he had inspected the Prestige on Dec. 13, 2000, and had refused to certify it.
““I was shocked and horrified by the general level of deterioration and condition of the vessel,” he wrote. Lee wrote that ABS allowed the ship to go to sea, despite his objections.”
Its an interesting tale, read the whole thing.
Credit Tim Cloton’s Maritime Memos for bringing this to my attention.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
Retired Admirals as chief of the ABS goes all the way back to COMDT Bertholf. There may be a small number of ships that slip through the cracks but (1) is it a significant % and (2) isn’t the entire industry on a positive trend. The number of U.S. flagged mishaps and mishaps in U.S. waters seems relatively low compared to history, even with the larger overall industry. Bernard Webber isn’t racing through the surf to rescue multiple crews every time there is a winter storm.
That is because there is no Surf stations in the Miami AOR. For that matter, neither are there any “winter storms” either.
We have very U.S. flag MISHAPS anymore because the Coast Guard has for the most part regulated U.S. flagged shipping out of business – save for Jones Act and ships under MSC contract.
I agree with the premise of the article. A culturally pseudo-military agency of the federal government which proclaims itself to be the “worlds premier maritime service” which (since Vietnam) has a serious chip on its shoulder towards the generally politically conservative DOD services and the military-industrial complex, should exhibit higher standards and not engaging in the very practices they routinely criticize DOD Generals and Admirals for doing once they retire when they take high level jobs with NG, LM, L3, BAH, etc.
PACAREA I agree with you 100%!
Bernard the person, not the cutter. The name is famous because he was battling the surf to save merchant ships breaking up in storms. No winter storms, that is a rather uninformed statement.
The 2011Port State Control Annual Report noted 0.00% detention rate of ABS classed ships, whereas other RSO were higher.
My understanding in ABS does not inspect ships or determine seaworthiness. Their annual hull survey is general and for the purposes of insurance.
https://homeport.uscg.mil/cgi-bin/st/portal/uscg_docs/MyCG/Editorial/20120924/annualrpt11_2.pdf?id=cd7753f37ea5050c1acf3f8fa48b5072380f3cc5&user_id=2a47d4dbfd24ce2da39438e736cab2d6
ADM Kramek got the Alternative Compliance Program (ACP) approved by Congress (where ABS would perform COIs instead of the CG) in 1998…then took a job as President of ABS Americas upon retirement.
This is an area of the CG I’m not at all familiar with, but I wanted to bring the article to the attention of those who read the blog, because it seemed likely they may not have seen it otherwise, and it is critical of the CG. Always good to know what others think about you.
It also appears that the CG is outsourcing some of its work, rather than relying on in-house expertise. As we know you can outsource the work, but you can’t outsource the responsibility, so that makes me uneasy.
I’m gratified to see some comments.
Maritime Memos has a link to ABS’s tax return that includes executive compensation (page 31 of the pdf.) I, don’t recognize the names but some of you might. Range is from low six figure to over $2.17M.
http://www.coltoncompany.com/