MTS West Virginia, inland motor tanker operated by Wijgaart Shipping on the Dutch waterway network

Case study · Wijgaart Shipping · MDM-PROTECT

MDM-PROTECT for Wijgaart Shipping.

MDM, the 50/50 joint venture of aXite Security Tools and Jansma International, deployed MDM-PROTECT on MTS West Virginia for Wijgaart Shipping. Six months of installation, testing, and refinement produced a compact unit continuously monitoring IT and OT systems on board and ashore. No rewiring of the bridge. No operational downtime. Documentation supports NIS2 filings.

Sector

Maritime · Inland shipping

Operator

Wijgaart Shipping

Vessel

MTS West Virginia · ENI 2340682

Pillar

Protect · MDM-PROTECT

MMSI

244087055 · MarineTraffic

MTS West Virginia · Wijgaart Shipping · ENI 2340682 · MMSI 244087055 · LOA 135 m · 17 m beam

Case overview

Client

Wijgaart Shipping · Addie & John van de Wijgaart

Industry

Maritime · Inland shipping

Solution

MDM-PROTECT · IT/OT separation and continuous monitoring

Timeline

Six months of onboard installation, testing and refinement, as described in the May 2026 Schuttevaer partner article.

Key outcomes

Described as 'a world first' in a Schuttevaer partner article provided by Jansma International (13 May 2026)

Every IT and OT network segment on board and ashore under continuous monitoring

24/7 behaviour-based monitoring with no crew intervention required

NIS2-supporting documentation generated per deployment

IT+OT

Continuous monitoring

Every network segment on board and ashore under continuous monitoring

24/7

Behaviour-based monitoring

Continuous · no crew intervention required

6 mo

Onboard testing and refinement

Schuttevaer partner article · May 2026

Context

Wijgaart Shipping, operator and development partner.

Wijgaart Shipping is the operator and development partner behind MDM-PROTECT, and its first customer. The documented vessel is MTS West Virginia (ENI 2340682, MMSI 244087055), a 135-metre inland motor tanker under Dutch flag.

MDM-PROTECT separates IT and OT on board and adds monitoring from shore. MDM is the 50/50 joint venture of aXite Security Tools and Jansma International, created to bring field-level OT cybersecurity to inland shipping. Shipping Technology contributed onboard systems expertise.

The vessel runs the core of the Dutch and German waterway network: Rotterdam, Dordrecht, Gorinchem, Nijmegen and the Rhine corridor, waterways that carry a substantial share of European industrial cargo. MDM-PROTECT was developed, tested and refined aboard MTS West Virginia. Following development that included six months of installation, testing and refinement, a Schuttevaer partner article provided by Jansma International described the result as “a world first” on 13 May 2026.

MTS West Virginia from the air on the Dutch waterway network

MTS West Virginia · Wijgaart Shipping · LOA 135 m · Dutch flag · MDM-PROTECT active · © Timo Pols / MarineTraffic

The challenge

Every vessel has its own attack surface. No two are the same.

Vessels are increasingly connected to the internet, for track pilots, navigation, and remote monitoring. But each system on board often has its own network router for updates and remote access. A dishwasher on WiFi, a navigation system on a dedicated SIM, an engine management system with vendor access: each an entry point that differs per vessel and that no generic IT product can handle.

Wijgaart Shipping's cargo clients faced new obligations under NIS2. The cybersecurity of the vessel became a supply chain responsibility and a precondition for continued business. Skippers have no CISO on board; security has to run itself and deliver auditable evidence for both IT and OT.

“If a technician boards with an infected laptop and tries to reach systems they aren't authorised for, our system sees it and we can intervene immediately.”
Kaj van Leer · Business Developer, Jansma International / MDM · Schuttevaer, 13 May 2026

Our approach

Eighteen months in development. Six months tested on board.

MDM-PROTECT is not an IT product adapted for shipping. Eighteen months of development, purpose-built for inland navigation: the protocols, threat model, and operational ergonomics were designed from day one for the vessel environment. This included six months of installation, testing and refinement aboard MTS West Virginia with Shipping Technology.

The unit sits between the systems that connect the vessel to the outside world (internet, AIS, remote monitoring, shore connections) and the systems that operate the vessel: ECDIS, engine management, operational controls. Those two worlds no longer communicate directly. Wijgaart Shipping's office is on the same system, so IT and OT stay separated while both remain continuously monitored. The system automatically generates monthly security reports to support the shipping company's NIS2 compliance work.

Onboard installation typically takes one working day. Survey, planning, configuration, acceptance and connection to shore-based monitoring are agreed for each vessel.

MDM-PROTECT unit installed in the PLC cabinet of the MTS West Virginia, with the vessel's bridge operating around it

MDM-PROTECT installed inside the West Virginia's control cabinet · bridge in operation · Wijgaart Shipping

The result

Operational. Provable. Live.

MTS West Virginia is the proof that a protection shell validated at airport and port scale can be packaged into a vessel format and run autonomously across the full operating range of an inland tanker. Every network segment on board and ashore under continuous monitoring. No operational disruption during deployment. NIS2-supporting documentation generated per deployment.

Every session on board is monitored live from the MDM control room, and anomalies surface within seconds. What used to require a CISO on every ship now runs itself, with auditable evidence ready before any cargo owner or authority asks for it.

MarineTraffic vessel information for WEST VIRGINIA, showing a voyage map and AIS details on a laptop.

MarineTraffic vessel information · MTS West Virginia (MMSI 244087055)

Press

Rotterdam, 8 May 2026. Signed on the Maas.

On 8 May 2026, MDM-PROTECT was officially launched on the Maas, with the Erasmus Bridge as backdrop. Representatives of aXite Security Tools, Jansma International, Shipping Technology, and Wijgaart Shipping formally committed to MDM-PROTECT as the standard on the West Virginia and to fleet-wide rollout.

Two partner publications cover the development of MDM-PROTECT and practical experience aboard MTS West Virginia.

Schuttevaer
Partner article provided by Jansma International · 13 May 2026
The development and introduction of MDM-PROTECT, with comments from the partners involved.
Read the Schuttevaer article
Het Financieele Dagblad
Contentway · Maritiem & Offshore · October 2026 · Partner content
Onboard testing, shore-based monitoring and operational responsibilities. A Contentway supplement distributed with Het Financieele Dagblad, without involvement of the FD editorial team.
Read the Contentway publication

MDM-PROTECT launch signing in Rotterdam: aXite, Jansma International, Shipping Technology and Wijgaart Shipping

L–R: Remco Pikaart (Shipping Technology), Kaj van Leer (Jansma International/MDM), Addie van de Wijgaart (Wijgaart Shipping), John van de Wijgaart (Wijgaart Shipping), Bert Willemsen (aXite/MDM), André Jansma · Photos Jansma International/MDM

The technology deployed

MDM-PROTECT. Built for the vessel, not the office.

MDM-PROTECT is the maritime protection unit of aXite Security Tools, co-developed with Jansma International and Shipping Technology. The same principle as at Schiphol: protect without touching the operational layer. Compact, autonomous, maritime-native. Onboard installation typically takes one working day, with survey, planning, configuration, acceptance and connection to shore-based monitoring agreed per vessel. Launched May 2026, with documentation supporting NIS2 filings from day one.

MDM-PROTECT

MDM-PROTECT · aXite Security Tools × Jansma International × Shipping Technology · launched 8 May 2026

“The crew sails the vessel. MDM-PROTECT monitors the security. Neither gets in the other's way.”

Kaj van Leer

Business Developer, Jansma International · MDM

What’s next

From one vessel to a fleet.

At the May 2026 launch, Wijgaart Shipping committed to extending MDM-PROTECT beyond MTS West Virginia. Onboard installation typically takes one working day; survey, planning, configuration, acceptance and connection to shore-based monitoring are agreed for each vessel. Each new deployment feeds the collective threat model and the next iteration of the unit.

For inland shipping fleets, MDM-PROTECT combines onboard IT/OT protection with monitoring from shore. Deployment scope is assessed per vessel, including its connected systems, maintenance access and ship-to-shore links.

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