Born into Maritime: John McDonald, Chairman & CEO, ABS

Many claim to have ‘saltwater in their veins,’ but all you have to do is walk into the corner office of John McDonald, the new Chairman and CEO of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), to see that him saying “I was born into maritime” is not hyperbole. The first thing that greets you is a Dusan Kadlec nighttime painting of the Brooklyn Bridge, a painting that has special meaning to him as he fondly remembers being on a boat in New York harbor in 1983, his father USCG Captain of the Port of New York at that time, watching the fireworks over the bridge for the celebration. There are maritime executives who find the industry by accident, then there are those that are destined to be in it from birth; McDonald is the latter. He takes the helm of ABS at arguably one of the most exciting yet tumultuous times in maritime history, as it is an industry facing multiple inflection points in terms of decarbonization and fuel transition, automation and autonomy, digitalization, robotics and seafarer training, to name but a few. McDonald discussed this and much more in his inaugural maritime CEO interview with Maritime Reporter & Engineering