As the nation restructures itself for the 21st century, the US Navy and the Government as a whole will be faced with declining budgets and will be challenged to find ways to make their vessels less costly to design, build, and operate without a sacrifice in quality. A market-proven approach which will aid in solving this dilemma is commercialization. Currently, the commercial marine industry utilizes the process of classification as a means for effective self regulation. The mission of a classification society is to promote the security of life, property and the natural environment through the development and verification of standards for the design, construction and operation of marine related facilities. The basis for a class society's success in carrying out this mission rests in the recognition by the marketplace of the value that it adds to the assets in question. Thus, owners and their underwriters look to classification as an attestation that their vessels are built and maintained to a level which protects their investment; government administrations look to class societies as partners in carrying out their duties as flag and port state marine regulators; and the remainder of the marine industry relies on classification standards as the baseline for assessing vessel fitness for intended purpose. With a growing realization that this process works well, the US Government has, over the past decade, made ever increasing use of classification and classification related services for ship acquisition. It has been policy for many years now that all Government-owned Military Sealift Command (MSC) and Maritime Administration (MARAD) vessels would be built and maintained in class with ABS. Additionally, the U.S. Navy has designed and built several recent vessels to class Rules when applicable standards were available. This paper will consists of three major parts: the first will define what a classification society is and then lay out the process of classification; the second will relate the history of association ABS has had with the US Government and outline the legal foundation for this association; and the third will then describe the nature of the work ABS is currently doing in support of Government ships and describe the Naval Vessel Criteria and Cutter Certification Plan efforts, two exciting new initiatives just beginning which will result in even greater support and involvement.
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