Safety-focused cybersecurity certification

Under the agreement, ClassNK and TÜV Rheinland will work on the cybersecurity guidelines that target onboard software currently being developed by the society. This partnership is expected to bring efficient and pragmatic cybersecurity certification services to meet the maritime sector’s needs.

ClassNK president and CEO Koichi Fujiwara said: “Through the new partnership, we will do everything possible to overcome the cybersecurity challenges of the industry by combining TÜV Rheinland’s abundant expertise and our society’s accumulated knowledge and experience on management systems for ship operations as well as the structure, machinery and other components of ships themselves.”

He stressed that cybersecurity is an essential factor to the promotion and adoption of digital transformation in the maritime industry.

Expert offering

TÜV Rheinland’s chairman Dr Michael Fübi said: “Combining our expertise and experience in Industrial Services and Information Technology (IT), Operational Technology (OT) and cybersecurity, we are one of the few organizations developing deep capabilities to offer this level of cybersecurity expertise to maritime industry which is concerned with the safety on-board vessel, compliance with regulatory requirements for cybersecurity, risk assessment and certification.”

ClassNK and TÜV Rheinland previously built a cooperative relationship through the signing of partnership agreements in 2012 for wind turbine certification and in 2015 for test and product certification.

By Rebecca Jeffrey