ABS Opens Engineering Office in Istanbul

ABS has opened a new engineering department at its regional headquarters in Istanbul. “ABS is committed to providing the most responsive service to its clients,” says ABS Europe Vice President, Engineering Kirsi Tikka. “This new department complements our other engineering offices in London, Hamburg, Genoa and Piraeus and will allow us to offer our clients, both shipowners and shipyards in the Black Sea region, more personalized service and faster turnaround times.” ABS Engineer Simon Burthem will lead Istanbul’s engineering review and approval activities. He will relocate to Istanbul from the ABS Divisional headquarters in London to head up the new engineering department. His team will support clients with engineering project management and provide design plan reviews and approvals-in-principle, and will conduct engineering review of proposed major repairs or conversions of existing vessels in the region’s shipyards as required. According to ABS Black Sea District Manager Willem Van Tatenhove, Turkish yards are rapidly filling with orders to ABS class, primarily smaller chemical and product tankers, feeder containerships, general cargo vessels and tugs. “We are also seeing increased activity in Romania,” he adds, “and the pending modernization of the shipyards in Bulgaria and Ukraine will further increase the need for a local, expert engineering capability.” The new Black Sea engineering service will supplement the long standing network of ABS field surveyors in the region. ABS maintains survey offices in Istanbul, Kiev, Mariupol and Constantza.