Terms of Use

YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE ABS WEBSITE IS SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BELOW ("TERMS") AND ALL APPLICABLE LAWS. BY VISITING THE ABS WEBSITE, AND/OR ACCESSING ITS CONTENTS, YOU ACCEPT THESE TERMS AND OUR PRIVACY POLICY WITHOUT RESERVATION, LIMITATION OR QUALIFICATION. THE PRIVACY POLICY, WHICH YOU MUST READ, CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE USE OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA AND OTHER INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR PRIVACY. ACCORDINGLY, IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OR OUR PRIVACY POLICY, YOU SHOULD EXIT THIS WEBSITE AND MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE ANY OF THE MATERIALS MADE AVAILABLE.

ABOUT US

American Bureau of Shipping (“ABS”) has operations in several countries and is headquartered at 1701 City Plaza Drive, Spring, Texas 77389, United States of America. If you have any questions,  concerns, or comments regarding this Web site, you may contact us at ABSServiceDesk@eagle.org. When we say "we" or "us" or "ABS" in these Terms, we mean American Bureau of Shipping, our affiliates, and those agents we use to provide services on our behalf.

RELATIONSHIPS OF  THESE TERMS TO OTHER AGREEMENTS OR RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ABS AND YOU

Nothing in these Terms shall alter the terms of any other agreement or other legal relationship between ABS and you.

AUTHORIZED USE AND RESTRICTIONS

You may access and use the ABS Website (the “Website”) and its Content solely for your own personal, non-commercial, informational, communication and educational use. “Content” refers to the materials featured or displayed on or through the ABS Website, including but not limited to the ABS Rules, Guides, Guidance Notes, and Advisories; articles, technical papers, images, charts, photographs, graphics, software programs, applications, data, designs, features, and other materials made available on the Website by ABS from time to time.

 You may not use the Website for any purpose other than as expressly provided above. You also may not use any robots, spiders, or other automatic devices to monitor, copy, “frame”, or “mirror” Content on the  Website or use any other technology to “scrape”, bulk download, or amass the Content or any data contained therein or in a manner that accesses or uses any Content beyond what ABS allows under these Terms, or otherwise attempt to interfere with the intended and efficient functioning of our Website.  Except for any rights expressly granted to you by these Terms, all rights are reserved. You may not modify, tamper with, or otherwise alter any Content or information contained on our Website without the written permission of ABS. You agree that you will not use the  Website for any illegal purpose or in any way that may lead to the encouragement, procurement or carrying out of any criminal activity.

SUBMITTED MATERIALS AND FEEDBACK

You or any other party authorized by you to submit information requesting ABS’s review or approval of plans or other information via the ABS Website represents and warrants that (a) you own all rights, title, and interest in and to any submitted material and all intellectual property rights corresponding thereto or that (b) you have the authority to disclose the submitted material and all intellectual property rights corresponding thereto on behalf of the owner(s) of the submitted material. You will, at your expense, defend, indemnify, and hold harmless ABS and its affiliates against any claim, action, or proceeding brought against ABS based on a claim that the submitted material, used by ABS according to your foregoing representation infringes, violates, or misappropriates the intellectual property right(s) of a third party.

You will, at your sole expense, defend, indemnify, and hold harmless ABS against any action brought against ABS to the extent that it is based on a claim that the submitted material, used by ABS within the scope of the services covered by these Terms by itself infringes, violates, or misappropriates a valid third-party copyright or other intellectual property right under any applicable laws in any country of the world. In such case, you shall pay all costs and damages awarded against ABS as a result of such claim.

Should the submitted material become the subject of such claims, you shall procure for ABS the right to continue using the submitted material or replace or modify it to make it non-infringing. If none of the foregoing alternatives is reasonably available to ABS in its sole opinion, then ABS may terminate your access to the Website and its Contents upon thirty (30) days' written notice to you.

As part of its internal operations, ABS may combine information received from you via the Website with information received from other sources to permit data analyses that relate to marine and offshore safety, service, and classification. ABS may also use the information received under this Agreement to perform operations that involve comparative analysis with information received from other sources. You agree that ABS will have the right to generate aggregate or anonymous data, which ABS may use for any business purpose, including without limitation, to develop and improve ABS products and services and to create and distribute reports and other materials. For clarity, ABS will only disclose aggregate/anonymous data externally in a sanitized, anonymous format that does not identify You, your authorized users (if any), or your confidential information, and that is stripped of all persistent identifiers (such as device identifiers, IP addresses, and cookie IDs). You are not responsible for ABS’ use of such aggregate/anonymous data.

By submitting ideas, suggestions, and/or proposals ("Feedback") to ABS, you acknowledge and agree that: (i) your Feedback does not contain confidential or proprietary information; (ii) ABS is under no obligation of confidentiality, express or implied, with respect to such Feedback; (iii) ABS may already be developing a solution or solution component related to the Feedback; and (iv) you grant to ABS a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, sub-licensable, perpetual license to use, commercialize, and publish the Feedback for any purpose, without compensation to you.

RULES AND GUIDES DOWNLOADS

Current ABS-approved printed versions of all ABS Rules and Guides are available from ABS. Current ABS-approved electronic versions of all Rules and Guides are most effectively accessed by establishing a hyperlink of your local Intranet directly to the ABS Rules and Guides on the  Website.

The ABS Rules and Guides are proprietary to ABS and are the subject to intellectual property protection laws.  All rights not expressly granted to you are reserved by ABS. Except for the permission granted below, nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring upon you in any manner any license, title, or ownership of or in any intellectual property right of ABS.

ABS hereby grants you the limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable permission to download, copy and use, including posting to your Intranet site, the ABS Rules and Guides posted on this Website in electronic format. You hereby agree that any copy of the materials, in part or in whole, that you make shall retain all copyright and other proprietary notices of ABS contained therein and that the information will not be altered in any manner. In addition, in using the ABS Rules and Guides in scholarly works or presentations, you shall provide proper attribution and credit to ABS. You are not allowed to upload or post the ABS Rules and Guides or any other Content onto third-party websites or file-sharing platforms without ABS’s express written permission. 

HYPERLINKS TO THE ABS WEBSITE

ABS encourages the use of hyperlinks to its Web site, subject to your agreement to these Terms.

INDEMNITY

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold ABS, and its officers, employees, representatives, contractors, and agents ("Indemnified Parties") harmless from any liability, loss, claim and expense, including attorneys' fees and expenses, related to your violation of these Terms or your use of our Web site and/or its Contents.

DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

While ABS uses reasonable efforts to include accurate and up-to-date information on this Web site, ABS makes no warranties or representations as to its accuracy, timeliness, or completeness. ABS assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the Content on this Web site. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ALL CONTENT ON THE WEBSITE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL ABS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING SPECIAL, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES OR DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, USE, OR DATA, WHETHER BROUGHT IN CONTRACT OR TORT, ARISING OUT OF OR CONNECTED WITH THE WEB SITE OR THE USE OR RELIANCE UPON ANY OF THE CONTENT OR ANY INFORMATION ACCESSED FROM THE WEB SITE. THERE IS NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIRD-PARTY CONTENT.

LEGAL

This Web site may contain other proprietary notices and copyright information of third parties, the terms of which must be observed and followed. Third-party content is the property of its respective provider or its licensor and is protected by applicable copyright law as set forth below.  You may not reproduce, retransmit, disseminate, sell, distribute, publish, broadcast, circulate or commercially exploit the third-party content in any manner without the express written consent of the third-party content provider. 

Information on this Website may contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Information may be changed or updated without notice. ABS may also make improvements and changes in the products, services, and the programs described in this information and/or set forth on the ABS Website at any time without notice.

The Content, technology or software made available through the ABS Website may only be exported from the United States in accordance with the Export Administration Regulations (15 C.F.R. §§ 730-774). Diversion contrary to U.S. law is prohibited.

 Trademarks

ABS, MY EAGLE, ABS ACADEMY, ABS RECORD, ABS EAGLE, ABS MYFREEDOM, the eagle and anchor design, and SURVEYOR are registered trademarks of the American Bureau of Shipping.  ABS MY DIGITAL FLEET, ABS VERIFICATION MANAGER, ABS ENVIRONMENTAL MONITOR, and ABS CORROSION DETECTION are also trademarks and service marks of American Bureau of Shipping. The use of these trademarks, whether or not registered, without the express written consent of ABS is strictly prohibited. ABS reserves the right to prohibit the use of logos which are unacceptable to ABS, that are in close proximity with, or in improper association with the ABS logo.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe that  Content infringes upon your copyright rights, you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") by providing ABS with the following information in writing (see 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) for further details):

• A PHYSICAL OR ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE OF A PERSON AUTHORIZED TO ACT ON BEHALF OF THE OWNER OF AN EXCLUSIVE RIGHT THAT IS ALLEGEDLY INFRINGED;
• IDENTIFICATION OF THE COPYRIGHTED WORK CLAIMED TO HAVE BEEN INFRINGED, OR, IF MULTIPLE COPYRIGHTED WORKS AT A SINGLE ONLINE SITE ARE COVERED BY A SINGLE NOTIFICATION, A REPRESENTATIVE LIST OF SUCH WORKS AT THAT SITE;
• IDENTIFICATION OF THE MATERIAL THAT IS CLAIMED TO BE INFRINGING OR TO BE THE SUBJECT OF INFRINGING ACTIVITY AND THAT IS TO BE REMOVED OR ACCESS TO WHICH IS TO BE DISABLED AND INFORMATION REASONABLY SUFFICIENT TO PERMIT THE SERVICE PROVIDER TO LOCATE THE MATERIAL;
• INFORMATION REASONABLY SUFFICIENT TO PERMIT THE SERVICE PROVIDER TO CONTACT YOU, SUCH AS AN ADDRESS, TELEPHONE NUMBER, AND, IF AVAILABLE, AN E-MAIL  ADDRESS;
• A STATEMENT THAT YOU HAVE A GOOD FAITH BELIEF THAT USE OF THE MATERIAL IN THE MANNER COMPLAINED OF IS NOT AUTHORIZED BY THE COPYRIGHT OWNER, ITS AGENT, OR THE LAW; AND
• A STATEMENT THAT THE INFORMATION IN THE NOTIFICATION IS ACCURATE, AND UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, THAT YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO ACT ON BEHALF OF THE OWNER OF AN EXCLUSIVE RIGHT THAT IS ALLEGEDLY INFRINGED.

ABS’s designated Copyright Agent to receive notifications of claimed infringement is the Office of the General Counsel, 1701 City Plaza Drive, Spring, Texas, USA 77389, email: ABSServiceDesk@eagle.org. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the above requirements of this Section entitled “Digital Millennium Copyright Act,” your DMCA notice may not be valid. There may be legal consequences for sending a false or frivolous takedown notice.

GOVERNING LAW

By accessing this Web site and the information contained therein, you agree with ABS that any claim you may have against ABS in contract, tort or otherwise in respect any Content available on this Web site, or in respect of any inaccuracy herein or omission therefrom, shall be governed by the federal laws of the United States of American and laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflicts of laws rules that would call for the application of the law of any other jurisdiction.

DISPUTES

Except to the extent that you have in any manner violated or threatened to violate our intellectual property rights for which ABS may seek injunctive or other appropriate relief in any court of competent jurisdiction, any disputes relating to your use of the ABS  Website shall be submitted to confidential arbitration in New York, New York.  You hereby consent to and waive all defenses of lack of personal jurisdiction and inconvenient forum with respect to venue and jurisdiction in the state and federal courts of New York. Arbitration under these Terms shall be conducted pursuant to the Commercial Arbitration Rules then prevailing at the American Arbitration Association. The arbitrator's award shall be final and binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, no arbitration under these Terms shall be joined to an arbitration involving any other party subject to this Agreement, whether through class action proceedings or otherwise. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action brought by you arising out of, related to, or connected with the use of the ABS Website or under these Terms must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

SEVERABILITY

Should any provision contained in these Terms will be held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable in any respect by a court of competent jurisdiction, the validity, legality, and enforceability of such provision in every other respect and the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions contained in these Terms will not be in any way impaired thereby.

REVISION TO TERMS AND WEBSITE

ABS reserves the right to change or update the information posted on the ABS Web site, and the products and services described on the ABS Web site, at any time without notice to you. ABS reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to amend these Terms at any time and will update these Terms in the event of any such amendments. Your continued use of the Website and its Contents constitutes agreement to our revisions of these Terms.

Type Approval

Click Here for additional terms and conditions for Type Approval