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Classification register updated for the digital age

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Republished from Lloyds Register

Announced today at SMM – the leading international maritime trade fair taking place 4-7 September in Hamburg, Germany – LR has created the first demonstrator that can register ships into Class using blockchain technology.

LR created the first register of ships in 1764, a tool used to provide merchants and underwriters information about the quality and condition of vessels they chartered and insured. Today, LR is re-imagining the Class register for the digital age having successfully applied blockchain technology to the classification process of registering new ships into Class and launching a prototype blockchain-enabled register tool in collaboration with Applied Blockchain.

Nick Brown, LR Marine & Offshore Director, commented: “LR has tested blockchain technology as an enabler to enter a ship into Class and we have identified multiple potential sources of value by adopting this technology in relation to the management of the activities required as part of this process. A blockchain-based register provides immutability and auditability, therefore providing enhanced trust in the information provided on the platform and also potentially facilitating the trusted information to be available ‘up-to-the-minute’ allowing financing, insuring, payments etc to be provided more dynamically.”

He continued, “This value discovery project has culminated in a prototype blockchain-enabled register tool. We are now focused on how we can extend the value to other stakeholders in the maritime supply chain.”

LR Lead Technical Specialist, Marine and Offshore, Gary Pogson added: “I have been investigating distributed ledger and blockchain technologies for about two and half years and from very early on, I recognised this as an area of great potential. We have taken a systems approach in undertaking this project, exploring customer needs to derive requirements. In looking at potential solutions, we’ve been careful to ask whether blockchain is a valid component of a solution. In our view, applied carefully as part of a well-designed system, it is uniquely disposed to offer additional value and set a foundation for the maritime industry’s future needs.”

Adi Ben-Ari, Founder & CEO, Applied Blockchain said: “Applied Blockchain has worked with Lloyd’s Register to understand how blockchain innovation will shape the future of the maritime industry. If implemented correctly, blockchain technology has the potential to bring greater efficiency, security and trust to maritime industry transactions. We look forward to working with LR and the industry to realise this vision.”

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