zoomImage Courtesy: ClassNK

The world’s first comprehensive electronic certificate service for classification and statutory certificates, which will first be available to Liberian-flagged vessels, will enter operation from June 15, classification society ClassNK said.

The service, ClassNK e-Certificate, is the result of a project aimed at reducing the workload on board and at shore by minimizing potential clerical errors and time-loss associated with paper burden, according to the classification society.

Based on the standards stipulated in IMO’s Guidelines for the use of electronic certificates, released in April 2016, the system enables secure transmission of certificates from ship to shore and vice versa.

ClassNK added that it includes an online function “to determine the validity of certificates and that they have not been falsified or tampered with.”

Trials on the system were launched in October 2016 in cooperation with the Liberian Registry and shipping companies. In April 2017, the Liberian Registry confirmed that ClassNK e-Certificate met the requirements of the IMO Guidelines, and granted ClassNK authorization as the first recognized organization to issue electronic certificates to Liberian-flagged vessels on its behalf.

“With the successful completion of operational trials, and authorization from the Liberian Registry, ClassNK has become the world’s first classification society to provide a comprehensive system for electronic certificates,” Tetsuya Hayashi, Director of ClassNK’s Survey Operations Division, said.

“We plan to expand the availability of this innovative service to even more vessels on our register in the near future in order to meet the growing needs of the industry,” Hayashi added.