30 Nov 2023

ClassNK has released "Guidelines for Cyber Resilience of on-board systems and equipment".

The guidelines expound new IACS Unified Requirements (UR). For supporting the consideration of measures to ensure the cybersecurity of ships.

Cyber resilience

IACS has established UR E26 for ships and UR E27 for onboard systems and equipment as minimum requirements for cyber resilience, which is the capability to reduce the occurrence and mitigate the effects of cyber incidents due to cyber-attacks.

The URs will be applied to new ships contracted for construction on and after 1 July 2024.

Guidelines for UR E27 requirement

This represents the first instance in which cybersecurity is incorporated into class rules as a mandatory requirement. 

To facilitate the industry’s smooth compliance with them, ClassNK has published the guidelines primarily for manufacturers and suppliers of marine systems and equipment, which describe the interpretation of each requirement of UR E27 as well as the approval procedure, including document reviews and surveys.