DNV EMPLOYS AI TO CLARIFY COMPLIANCE FOR MARITIME

Mar 23, 2026 | Ship classification news

DNV has launched RuleAgent, an AI-powered tool intended to help maritime professionals access DNV’s rules and standards faster and with greater clarity.

Designed to reduce the time customers spend navigating regulatory material, it enables users to ask natural‑language questions and receive targeted results. Fully connected to DNV’s rules and standards database, RuleAgent provides complete traceability to DNV’s official sources.

According to DNV, maritime regulations are continuously evolving. Navigating the more than 30,000 pages of DNV’s rules across multiple documents, chapters, and editions can be complex and time consuming. By presenting content in real time, RuleAgent enables users to identify the relevant rule paragraphs quickly, reducing the time spent searching across multiple documents.

Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria, DNV Interim CEO Maritime, said: “Digitalisation continues to reshape maritime operations, and DNV is committed to leading this development in a responsible and practical way. By applying advanced AI to our rule framework, we are strengthening how our customers access trusted technical knowledge. This supports more efficient decision making and helps the industry navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.”

RuleAgent works by searching directly in DNV’s rules and standards database and highlighting relevant paragraphs for the user. It then provides short summaries and links to the official sources so that users can verify the content and apply their professional judgement to the results. When customer vessel information is available (and linked), the tool uses the specific vessel’s ship type and class notations to narrow the search and present more targeted regulatory guidance.

Martin Borge Heir, DNV Project Manager for RuleAgent, said: “Whether you are an experienced professional or a new user, you can now leverage AI to explore DNV’s regulatory framework and become familiar with the requirements applicable to your business. Our aim is to provide a trusted reference for rule‑related questions, with faster navigation, targeted results, and clear traceability to official sources.”

RuleAgent covers Rules for Ships (RU SHIP), Rules for Offshore Units (RU OU), and reference documents such as Class Guidelines (CG), Class Programmes (CP), Statutory Interpretations (SI), Standards (ST), Offshore Standards (OS), and Recommended Practices (RP), with further expansion planned. It has been piloted with selected customers to validate performance and refine the user experience.

Image: DNV’s AI-powered RuleAgent is intended to make rules simpler to search (source: DNV)

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