The approval marks a step forward in the assurance of AI enabled digital systems for naval platforms.

Lloyd’s Register has issued an Approval in Principle  to the Spanish shipbuilder Navantia, for its AI-based Digital Twin Ready framework.

The approval follows LR’s technical assessment of Navantia’s development, governance and validation processes for digital twins, based on an air-cooling system digital twin developed for naval use.

While digital twins have gained traction in the commercial shipping sector, their uptake in naval applications has remained limited, largely due to the complexity of systems and the critical nature of operations.

The framework is intended to support the safe deployment of data-driven and machine learning-based condition monitoring, as well as digital health management systems, across future naval programmes.

The air-cooling system digital twin combines data-driven algorithms and machine learning models to analyse sensor data, monitor system behaviour and identify early signs of abnormal performance, supporting more informed maintenance and operational decisions. The air-cooling equipment used in this initiative were made available by Frizonia.

LR’s evaluation confirmed that Navantia has implemented defined processes covering data and requirements engineering, AI model development and training, uncertainty management and internal verification and validation. The work was assessed against LR’s ShipRight Digital Compliance Procedure for the Approval of Digital Health Management Systems.

Javier de Juana, Naval Business Director, Lloyd’s Register, said: “As digital twins move from development to operational deployment, robust governance and independent assurance are becoming increasingly critical to ensure confidence in data driven technologies used on board complex naval platforms. This AiP demonstrates how those technologies can be assessed in a structured and repeatable way.”

The digital twin initiative is being implemented through Navantia’s COEX Digital Twin Centre of Excellence, which is intended to act as an enabling structure for the industrial adoption of advanced digital technologies across programmes.

Ana Moya, Chief Technology and Digital Transformation Officer (CTO) at Navantia, said:
“The assessment carried out by Lloyd’s Register validates the maturity of Navantia’s digital twin framework, particularly in areas such as data governance, model validation and lifecycle management. This provides a solid basis for applying AI enabled digital health systems to operational naval platforms.”