American Bureau of Shipping

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
134921556
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Spring, TX, USA
Phone
1-281-877-6000
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$536,588,479
Expenses
$514,933,830
Assets
$2,250,382,108
Liabilities
$330,657,159

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

36 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Christopher J Wiernicki (Chairman and CEO)
  • John P McDonald (President and Chief Operating Officer (COO))
  • Bhattacharya Sandipan (Vice President, Application Development (no longer)
  • Johnny M Garrett Jr (Vice President, Regional Operations * Southern Pac)

Highest reported compensation

  • Christopher J Wiernicki (Chairman and CEO): $2,978,596 total reported compensation
  • John P McDonald (President and Chief Operating Officer (COO)): $2,279,677 total reported compensation
  • Laura C Fulton (SVP & Chief Financial Officer (CFO)): $1,416,237 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To promote the security of life, property, and the marine environment.

What it reported doing in 2024

As a classification society founded in 1862, the core commitment of ABS has been setting safety standards for the marine and offshore industries. This is achieved through the establishment and application of technical standards, known as Rules, for the design, construction, and operational maintenance of ships and marine related facilities. Classification is the process that certifies adherence to these Rules, comprising technical design review, construction monitoring, and ongoing survey of ships and marine related facilities over their operating life and the maintenance of the ABS Record. These activities are conducted through a network of offices in over 60 countries.Together with classification services, the company provides statutory audit services on behalf of certain regulators and flag state registries in over 100 countries.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 91% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 96.5%; rating input score 97; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.37; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: -3.6% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 9 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $3M · 36 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $9.7M reported
  • Consistency: 15 of 16 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 56 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 35 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.