ABS & Vietnam Register Sign Joint Cooperation Agreement

ABS has signed an expanded agreement of cooperation with Vietnam Register (VR) covering the provision of a wide range of classification and statutory certification services. Christopher J Wiernicki, ABS President and Nguyen Van Ban, General Director of Vietnam Register signed the agreement at ABS’s Corporate Headquarters in Houston on Monday 14 May. The two societies had been operating under a more limited cooperative agreement, originally signed in 1994 and subsequently amended in 1999.

A key element of the new agreement is a program that will be instituted by ABS to train and qualify VR surveyors to ABS standards.

The agreement also recognizes the probability that there will be increased traffic into US ports by Vietnamese flag ships as a result of the recent granting of permanent non-discriminatory treatment status to Vietnamese products by the US Government, and Vietnam’s acceptance as a member of the World Trade Organization.