LR awards first cybersecurity notation to containership

MV COSCO Shipping Aries built by Nantong COSCOS KHI Ship Engineering Co Ltd (NACKS), is apparently is the first ever container ship to receive cyber enabled ship descriptive note Cyber AL3 SECURE PERFORM (Energy Management System).

“MV COSCO Shipping Aries is the first 20K teu level ultra large container ship built in Chinese shipyard owned by COSCO Shipping Container Lines,” said Shi Yongxin, general manager, COSCO Shipping Container Line Co Ltd, Safety & Technology Department.

“We have always attached great importance to cyber enabled fleet in order to enhance fleet management, reduce energy consumption and control emission.”

Cyber compliance

The new certification means that the ship complies with the revised version of LR’s Cyber-enabled ships ShipRight procedure, issued in December 2017.

Cyber-enabled systems are considered to be systems installed onboard ships that would conventionally be controlled by the ship’s crew but which, through recent advances in IT and Operational Technology (OT), now include the capability to be monitored and/or controlled, either remotely or autonomously with or without a crew.

Consequently, as the risks can vary considerably, the assessment of cyber-enabled systems requires a risk-based approach to identify the hazards introduced by cyber-enablement and to mitigate the associated risks.

COSCOS is now hoping to apply LR’s CES descriptive notes to some of its other vessels.

In February 2016, LR issued the first guidance on cyber-enabled ships: ‘Deploying Information and Communications Technology in Shipping – Lloyd’s Register’s Approach to Assurance’.

This identified the elements that constitute a cyber-enabled ship and the activities that need to take place to ensure that cyber technology does not introduce a safety risk, effectively providing the industry with a route map to understanding the implications of digital technology.

This was followed with the introduction of the industry’s first ShipRight procedure, which details LR’s framework for accepting cyber technology.