The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the world's 2nd largest commercial shipping classification society, has approved the Protective Coatings Inspector (PCI) program offered by SSPC: The Society for Protective Coatings as equivalent to NACE Coating Inspector Level 2 and FROSIO Inspector Level III.

According to SSPC, this approval is a milestone for the PCI program, which was launched by SSPC in 2007. "It lends credibility to our program," said Bill Shoup, executive cirector of SSPC. "Our goal during development of the program was to serve our members’ needs and ensure that it stacked up to existing programs on the market. This approval is an independent validation of that and proof that we've met one of our important benchmarks."

The PCI program is an intensive one-week program designed to train individuals thoroughly in the proper methods of inspecting surface preparation and the installation of industrial and marine protective coatings and lining systems on a variety of steel structures. It is the fourth inspector program offered by SSPC and joins the Bridge Coatings Inspector (BCI) program, Concrete Coatings Inspector (CCI) program, and NAVSEA Basic Paint Inspector (NBPI) course.

For more information, visitwww.sspc.orgorwww.eagle.org.