Page 45: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2026)

JOHN MCDONALD, CHAIRMAN & CEO, ABS and looking domestically with the recent intense focus on yard Samsung,” said McDonald. “Our chairman at the time, Bob rebuilding the U.S. maritime industry base, McDonald says Somerville, who I met when I was 18, wrote me a letter that said,

ABS can help. He talks about supporting the six state mari- essentially, the values that you're bringing across to our client time academies, helping them modernize and pushing for a base and to the team within Samsung Heavy Industries is being curriculum that re? ects the ships cadets will actually see in the seen across the company, so keep doing what you're doing." ? eld: vessels with advanced systems, alternative fuels, digital That answer ? t the rest of the conversation. McDonald is overlays and increasing automation. clearly ambitious for ABS. He wants growth. He wants stron-

The old path to a license remains necessary, but it is no lon- ger digital tools, broader services, better training, deeper tech- ger suf? cient by itself. If the U.S. intends to rebuild maritime nical capability and a larger role in helping the industry navi- capability at scale, the training architecture has to catch up to gate the myriad of changes ahead. But the center of gravity the equipment and operational models already emerging. remains steady. Safety ? rst. People ? rst. Class ? rst, even as

That may prove to be one of the more consequential pieces class evolves.

of his leadership. Everyone in maritime says people matter. That is probably the most useful way to understand the lead-

Far fewer are willing to put money, structure and urgency be- ership transition now underway at ABS. John McDonald is not hind the claim. McDonald is intent on doing that. trying to turn a classi? cation society into a software company, a consulting ? rm or a futurist brand. He is trying to ensure that

Looking Ahead a 164-year-old institution remains technically credible and op-

Many leaders in maritime are reticent to bring the focus back erationally relevant in an industry being pushed hard by digita- to them, and when we asked McDonald to discuss his career lization, autonomy, cyber risk and fuel uncertainty.

and achievements that made him most proud, he was hesitant. For someone who grew up on Governor’s Island, spent sum-

Upon thinking it through, he recalled a letter from former ABS mers on the Maine coast, sailed ships, met his wife on one, and

Chairman Robert Somerville during his time in Korea – a letter then spent three decades at ABS, maybe that makes perfect sense. he still holds. “I was in Korea, and I was a surveyor at the ship- Maritime by birth. ABS by calling.

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