Matthew Tremblay, senior vice-president of global offshore markets at the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), talks to The Energy Year about transitioning to goal-based standards to help ensure the safe adoption of innovative equipment.
The American Bureau of Shipping is a ship classification society based in the US.
- Offshore investment is concentrated on assets to increase production in established basins, especially through FPSOs.
- South America remains the centre of global FPSO spending, with Brazil driving a large share of the activity.
- Frontier markets such as Guyana, Suriname and Namibia show how quickly offshore production centres can emerge after major discoveries.
ABS is a leader in global offshore classification across the drillship, FPSO and jack-up segments. What are the main trends you are seeing?
ABS is very active across offshore production, offshore exploration and the sectors that support both. Most of today’s offshore investments are going towards growing production capacity in established regions, particularly through FPSOs. About 50% of global investment in that segment is concentrated in South America, driven by Petrobras in Brazil.
The business is also focused on expansion in frontier markets such as Suriname and Namibia. Guyana is probably the best example of how quickly things can change. 10 years ago, there was effectively no offshore production there, whereas today the country is commissioning its fifth FPSO. ExxonMobil and partners have had a remarkable run of discoveries.
The revival of deepwater activity is closely tied to the speed at which new technologies are being deployed offshore. AI and digital twins are being adopted much faster than many people expected. Our role at ABS is to help the industry implement those technologies safely. When new technologies are introduced, nobody understands the possible ways they can fail, and we work with operators and technology providers to identify risks, evaluate potential failure modes and prevent unacceptable risk to people, assets or the environment.
Have you had to adopt new standards to address these innovations?
Over the past five years, ABS has shifted toward goal-based standards. The challenge with innovations is that it is difficult to write a prescriptive rule for something that has never existed before. Rather than specifying exactly how something must be designed, goal-based standards focus on the outcome that must be achieved. That philosophy has become increasingly important as technologies and advanced hardware systems have moved offshore.
ABS has created a process called New Technology Qualification (NTQ). Instead of writing a new prescriptive standard for every innovation, NTQ provides a structured framework to verify that a technology does what its developers claim it does and that it does not create unacceptable risks. Eliminating all risks is impossible, but we can help keep them to a level that is as low as reasonably practicable.
How are you incorporating cybersecurity considerations into your risk assessments?
Offshore assets have become increasingly connected through cellular and satellite networks and other communications technologies, and cybersecurity has become a fundamental concern. The question is no longer whether or not data is accessible; the question is who can access data and who can gain control of systems.
One of my favourite examples involves a chief engineer employed by a vessel owner who proudly explained how an onshore specialist had connected to the engine on a ship at sea and adjusted it remotely. That begs the question of whether anyone else could potentially do the same thing. They did not know the answer. That is exactly where ABS needs to become involved and help companies ensure that authorised parties have remote access to systems while unauthorised parties do not.
Our traditional focus is primarily on operational technology, not IT security, and to strengthen our capabilities, ABS acquired RMC Global in April 2026. We are incorporating their expertise into our understanding of offshore operations, how crews interact with systems and how procedures are executed in practice. That realm is where much of our cybersecurity advisory work is concentrated.
What opportunities are emerging for ABS from energy transition trends?
For more than 60 years, offshore energy was primarily about hydrocarbons. Today, it is about hydrocarbons alongside a broader range of energy technologies, such as offshore wind generation, hydrogen and CCUS.
One of the key ways ABS supports innovation in these sectors is through Approval in Principle (AIP). Companies often come to us with early-stage concepts before they have secured financing or customers. We review the design and determine whether it appears compliant with applicable engineering principles and regulatory requirements. That preliminary endorsement can help developers move projects forward with investors and stakeholders.
At this year’s Offshore Technology Conference alone, ABS presented half a dozen AIP certificates covering offshore ammonia production, offshore carbon dioxide injection and wind generation concepts, among other innovations. One was a new hose design developed by SBM Offshore that enables the hose to support its own weight over very long distances, allowing operators to draw significantly colder seawater from deeper depths for cooling purposes. If water is at 5 degrees Celsius rather than 18 degrees Celsius, heat exchangers can be made smaller and more efficient, potentially reshaping current topsides design altogether.
Which factors do you expect will characterise the future of offshore classification?
The next era of offshore development will be fundamentally digital. Physically, the FPSOs and drilling rigs of the future may not look dramatically different from today’s assets, but their instrumentation, connectivity and data-generating capabilities probably will.
Historically, classification inspections have followed a five-year cycle. That model has served the industry well for more than 150 years, but sensors are starting to allow for condition-based interventions.
That transition will take time because offshore environments are safety-critical, and any new approach must demonstrate that it is at least as safe and effective as existing best practices. ABS is a mission-driven, not-for-profit organisation, and we intend to remain at the forefront by focusing on service delivery, technical expertise and problem-solving.