Scrutiny surrounding the carriage of cargo at sea, particularly on the quality of tonnage enlisted to transport potentially hazardous materials, is higher than ever. In the wake of high-profile disasters such as Erika, which left not only beaches and water but the reputation of many in the shipping industry soiled, leading companies usually step up. This is the case with the American Bureau of Shipping, one of the handful of highly regarded classification societies in the world. At the recent Posidonia exhibition, ABS introduced SafeShip, a program designed to apply advanced technology to reduce risk in the design, construction and maintenance of a new and safer generation of cost-efficient vessels.