Last week, BIMCO, along with other shipping organizations, “launched” guidelines “to help the global shipping industry prevent major safety, environmental and commercial issues that could result from a cyber incident on-board a ship.”

BIMCO states that the guidelines are “a first for the shipping industry” (which to our knowledge is true and we applaud).

The guidelines are designed to identify cyber risks on ships and to assist the shipping industry with information in order to protect against attacks and deal with cyber incidents. It discussed understanding the cyber threat to ships, how to assess the risk and determine vulnerabilities, controls to put in place to minimize the risks, and developing contingency plans. It references the NIST framework.

The Guidelines on Cyber Security Onboard Ships are free and can be downloaded from the BIMCO website.