Chinese shipbuilder Jiangnan Shipyard Co. has won Approval in Principle (AiP) from Lloyd’s Register (LR) for its Very Large Gas Carrier (VLGC) digital ship design, the first AiP for a digital VLGC design in China.

LR said that digital systems are considered systems installed on board ships that would conventionally be controlled by the ship’s crew but which, through recent advances in IT and operational technology (OT), now include the capability to be monitored, or monitored and controlled, either remotely or autonomously with or without a crew on board.