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.