Sember Named President and COO of ABS Europe

ABS has named William J. Sember to the position of President and COO for one of its three divisions, ABS Europe, effective 1 January 2007. Sember replaces Christopher J. Wiernicki who moves to the organization’s worldwide headquarters in Houston, TX, USA to assume the role of President and Chief Operating Officer.

Currently Vice President of Energy Development and a Corporate Officer, Sember is a 30 year ABS veteran having joined the class society as a surveyor after serving at sea as a marine engineer. Throughout his career he has held a number of increasingly senior positions including Manager of the Offshore Engineering Department, Regional Vice President Western Europe, Regional Vice President Middle East and Regional Vice President of Eastern Europe.

“It is his considerable experience within ABS, in particular ABS Europe, that makes this appointment an effective one for the organization and, most importantly, our clients,” says ABS Chairman and CEO Robert D. Somerville.

Sember and his Energy Development team are credited with the recent great success ABS has had in securing the classification work for the growing number of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers as well as a dominant share of the offshore exploration and production units around the world.

Sember is an active participant in many industry associations and throughout his career has served as Chairman of the Houston chapter of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering (OMAE), Chairman of the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) Subcommittee on Floating Systems, and Chairman of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) Working Party on Drilling Units. He represents ABS on the technical committee for the Center for LNG. Most recently Sember was appointed Vice Chairman of the Board for the Centre for Marine CNG Inc. located in St. John’s Newfoundland, Canada. It is the world's first research and development corporation for large-scale marine transportation of compressed natural gas.

He is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) with a Degree in Marine Engineering and has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He also holds a USCG marine engineers license and is a licensed professional engineer.

Sember will be located at the ABS Europe headquarters in London.