ShipManager and BASSnet are the two Nordic heavyweights of technical ship management, they are frequently shortlisted against each other, and the comparison is usually run on the wrong axis. Both are modular. Both cover planned maintenance, procurement, QHSE, crewing and dry docking to a depth few platforms match. Both are mid-transition to modern architecture. What actually separates them is structural rather than functional: DNV ShipManager is built and sold by a classification society, with Machinery Maintenance Connect letting DNV surveyors assess a whole fleet's maintenance in a single day, while BASSnet is built by BASS Software of Oslo, independent of any class authority, and reaches further into finance and vetting than ShipManager does. One is a class-integrated technical suite. The other is closer to a full maritime ERP on a single shared database, currently migrating to cloud module by module under the Neo name. Your class mix and your finance function will decide this more reliably than any feature grid. This page runs them against each other on that basis, and then against the lighter option that mid-size fleets increasingly pick instead of either. Start a free trial of Marine Inspection and put all three side by side.
The Axis That Actually Decides This
Class-Affiliated
DNV ShipManager
Built and sold by a classification society. Machinery Maintenance Connect, digital machinery surveys and Fleet Status attach real value to DNV-classed tonnage and none to anything else.
Same depth
Different structure
Different structure
Class-Neutral
BASSnet
Built by BASS Software of Oslo, independent since 1997. Roughly 19 modules on one shared database reaching into finance, vetting and ports management, with no society relationship either way.
If your fleet is predominantly DNV-classed, one side of this axis is worth money to you. If it is mixed, that value largely disappears while the platform cost does not.
Where the Modules Overlap, and Where They Do Not
Most of the two suites is common ground. The decision lives in the two outer columns, which is where the shortlist should focus rather than on the middle. Book a Marine Inspection demo to see how much of the middle column you would actually use.
Only ShipManager
Machinery Maintenance Connect
Digital machinery surveys for classed tonnage
Hull Integrity Management
IHM across the equipment register
4D dry-docking planning
Fleet Status for DNV-classed vessels
Canteen and Ship Cash Box
Weighted toward class integration and hull lifecycle. Valuable in direct proportion to how much of your tonnage sits with DNV.
Both Platforms
Planned maintenance
Counter and calendar scheduling
Procurement
Stock and inventory control
QHSE and safety management
Crew management
Payroll
Work and rest hours
Dry docking and repair projects
Document control
Business intelligence dashboards
Ship-to-shore replication
Genuine parity. Neither platform will be found short here, and demo comparisons on these lines rarely produce a decision.
Only BASSnet
Finance module
Vetting
Risk Management
Ports Management with port guide
Environmental Management
Electronic Training Record Book
Gateway third-party exchange
Shareable machinery library across fleet
Weighted toward ERP breadth and commercial risk. Finance and Vetting are the two that most often decide it.
Cloud Transition: Two Very Different Positions
Both platforms are moving to modern architecture, and the difference in how publicly documented each path is should itself inform your questions. Sign up for Marine Inspection for a reference point on what a platform with no transition to track looks like.
DNV ShipManager
Current model
Common ship and shore interface with replication between vessel and office. A hosted server option removes the need to run your own database and application server, with DNV managing the application and the arrival of vessel data.
Public milestones
Less publicly dated than the alternative. Request a written architecture roadmap covering your specific modules rather than inferring one.
Ask for
Current security certifications in writing, the hosted option priced per vessel per year separately from licences, and what a version upgrade costs the fleet in downtime.
BASSnet
Current model
Sequential migration to cloud-native architecture. BASSnet Web 3.0 launched January 2025 with Foundation and HSEQ moving first onto Microsoft Azure using containerised technology, rebranded BASSnet Neo from release 3.0.1 in September 2025, with further module innovation announced at the 2026 European Customer Forum.
Certifications
ISO/IEC 27001:2022ISAE 3402 Type IINIST2 alignmentZero-trust security
Ask for
A module-by-module statement of what is Neo-native today, which release carries each remaining module, and what the migration costs across the full sequence.
Three-Way Capability Table
The same lines assessed across both incumbents and the lighter third option, with the test that settles each in a demo rather than a datasheet. Schedule a walkthrough and run these on your own vessel data.
Table 1: ShipManager, BASSnet and Modern Cloud PMS Compared
| Capability | DNV ShipManager | BASSnet | Cloud PMS | Test in the Demo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planned maintenance | Counter, calendar and condition-based tasks with critical, safety relevant and class relevant job tagging | High-level planning and execution across vessel or fleet, with maintenance cost forecasting against jobs, material and resource | Interval and running-hour triggers with fast defect-to-work-order closure | Rebuild three of your most complex job cards live in each |
| Class integration | Machinery Maintenance Connect, which DNV states lets its surveyors audit a fleet in one day rather than vessel by vessel | None; class-neutral by design with no society relationship | None; class-neutral across every society in the fleet | Calculate the share of tonnage that actually realises it |
| Finance | Not a module; finance integrates from outside the suite | Finance sits inside the suite on the same shared database | Not a module; finance stays where it is | Map which system owns the ledger and how cost reaches it |
| Vetting | Not a distinct module; verify coverage against your vetting regime | Dedicated Vetting module alongside Audits and Inspections | SIRE 2.0 and PSC libraries as the primary inspection workflow | Run a pre-vetting internal audit end to end and export it |
| Hull and IHM | Hull Integrity Management with IHM integrated across equipment register, orders, stock and PMS for Hong Kong Convention and EU SRR | Environmental Management module; confirm IHM handling for your obligations | Certificate and survey tracking; hull work managed as scheduled jobs | Produce a Hong Kong Convention inventory from live data |
| Dry docking | Dedicated docking and ship repair module with planning that weighs time, cost, resources and risk together | Projects module covering dry-docking specification and execution | Docking windows tracked as constraints; specification handled elsewhere | Build a docking specification from last cycle's actual scope |
| Reporting | Analyzer with plug-and-play dashboards, drill-down and automated export to PowerPoint or PDF | Business intelligence dashboards across the shared database | Self-serve dashboards for overdue counts, backlog and completion rate | Ask a superintendent question live and time the answer |
| Crew mobile working | Common ship and shore interface with replication; verify offline scope for core workflows | Web and mobile applications arriving progressively under the Neo transition | Every core workflow native to the device, offline by default | Airplane mode, close a job with photos, then reconnect |
| Scale reference | DNV reports 300 customers and more than 6,000 vessels across its maritime software | Reported installed base around 2,000 vessels, with fleets including gas carriers and dry bulk | Deployed per vessel with no minimum fleet size | Ask for a reference of your fleet size and vessel type |
2026 EVALUATION REALITY
BASSnet is not a Kongsberg or IFS product. Several software directories published in 2026 attribute it to one or the other. BASSnet is developed and owned by BASS Software of Oslo, founded in 1997 and independent of both, and getting this wrong distorts the class-neutrality question that is central to this comparison. The regulatory floor is identical for all three options. ISM Code Element 10 requires every company holding a Document of Compliance to run a documented maintenance system, and SOLAS Chapter IX makes ISM mandatory for SOLAS-certified ships. IACS formalised PMS requirements in 2001, and Bureau Veritas, DNV, Lloyd's Register and ABS all approve owners' systems and conduct the initial survey, so a class-neutral platform is fully acceptable where it produces complete, timestamped, traceable records. Both roadmaps move faster than buyer guides. Confirm current module availability, architecture position and support horizons directly with each vendor rather than relying on any published description including this one.
If you would open three modules out of nineteen, the class question and the finance question are both academic. Equipment registers, interval and running-hour triggers, defect-to-work-order closure, spares, certificate windows and class survey dates — deployed in weeks at published per-vessel pricing, class-neutral across every society, with every core workflow native to the device your engineers already carry.
Rollout, Commercial Terms and Cost Exposure
Both incumbents sit in the enterprise band, where the licence is rarely the largest number in year one. Market analysis puts unlisted items at 20 to 40 percent of first-year total cost of ownership when they are not surfaced before signature. Start a free trial to see per-vessel pricing applied to your fleet without a custom-quote cycle.
Table 2: Rollout Time, Commercial Model and Cost Lines
| Line | DNV ShipManager | BASSnet | Cloud PMS | Put This in Writing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Implementation | Enterprise suite timeline, commonly six to fifteen months across configuration, migration and training | Enterprise suite timeline, with database building and module sequencing on the critical path | Six to twelve weeks, and six to ten for five to eight vessels | A phased plan with named milestones, not an average |
| Professional services | Quoted separately; frequently adds twenty to thirty percent in year one at this tier | Consultation, implementation, database building and training offered as named services | Bundled or a fixed onboarding fee | Fixed-fee ceiling for go-live across the whole fleet |
| Licensing | Module and user based; individual modules or the complete suite | Module based across roughly nineteen modules on one database | Published per-vessel or per-user subscription | Itemised price per module and the cost of dropping one |
| Architecture cost | Self-hosted or vendor-hosted server option, each with a different long-run profile | A cloud transition is a project per module wave, whether you initiate it or not | None; hosting, backup and patching held by the vendor | Full cost across one hardware refresh or migration sequence |
| Class-linked cost | Newbuild programmes can bundle modules with classed deliveries, which skews comparison for single-class fleets | No class-linked pricing effects in either direction | Identical terms across every vessel regardless of society | Effective per-vessel cost for tonnage gaining no class benefit |
| Integration | Scoped per connector into finance, telematics or commercial systems | Gateway module handling third-party file exchange with suppliers and systems | Documented API access, typically inside the subscription | Name your finance system and ask for a working reference |
| Crew turnover | Per-user training repeated as crews rotate every few months | Per-user training repeated per rotation, and again after each module wave | Role-based onboarding with in-product guidance for new joiners | Retraining cost for a full crew change on one vessel |
Fit Matrix by Fleet Profile
Five profiles cover most operators running this comparison. Find your row and read across. Book a walkthrough and pressure-test whichever cell is marked for you.
Fleet Profile
ShipManager
BASSnet
Cloud PMS
Predominantly DNV-classed, full suite in daily use
Best fit
Viable
Too narrow
Mixed class, finance and vetting must sit in the same system
Gap on finance
Best fit
Too narrow
Mixed class, technical and inspection are the whole problem
Paying for affiliation you cannot use
Paying for breadth you will not open
Best fit
Under 20 vessels, lean shore team, no programme capacity
Implementation load too heavy
Implementation load too heavy
Best fit
Hull lifecycle and IHM are a live regulatory exposure
Best fit
Verify IHM coverage
Pair with a hull specialist
Frequently Asked Questions
Is BASSnet a Kongsberg or IFS product?
No. BASSnet is developed and owned by BASS Software, founded in 1997 and headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Several software comparison directories published in 2026 list it as a Kongsberg Digital or IFS product, and both attributions are incorrect. The distinction matters directly to this comparison: BASSnet carries no classification society affiliation in either direction, which is the structural counterpoint to DNV ShipManager being built and sold by a class society. If a vendor list gets the ownership wrong, treat the rest of its comparison with the same caution.
Which is better, DNV ShipManager or BASSnet?
On core technical management they are close enough that a feature comparison will not decide it, and both are consistently ranked among the leading technical suites. Two structural questions decide it instead. First, class mix: ShipManager's Machinery Maintenance Connect, digital machinery surveys and Fleet Status attach real value to DNV-classed tonnage and none to vessels classed elsewhere, so calculate the share of your fleet that benefits. Second, scope: BASSnet includes Finance, Vetting, Risk Management and Ports Management on the same shared database, reaching closer to a full ERP, while ShipManager is technical-led and integrates finance from outside. Answer those two and the shortlist usually resolves itself.
Does choosing ShipManager tie us more closely to DNV class?
Classification and software procurement remain separate commercial relationships, and switching software does not affect your class status. What the affiliation gives you is convenience rather than compliance: fleet-level digital machinery survey handling, class relevant job tagging feeding directly into survey preparation, and services such as Fleet Status available to owners of DNV-classed vessels. What it does not give you is anything on tonnage classed with another society. Newbuild programmes that bundle modules with classed deliveries can also make the commercial comparison uneven for single-class fleets and largely irrelevant for mixed ones, so isolate that effect before comparing quotations.
How far along is BASSnet's cloud transition?
It is sequential rather than complete. BASSnet Web 3.0 launched in January 2025 with the Foundation and HSEQ modules moving first to a cloud-native architecture on Microsoft Azure using containerised technology, the platform was rebranded BASSnet Neo from release 3.0.1 in September 2025, and further module innovation was announced at the 2026 European Customer Forum in Athens. Security posture includes ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification, ISAE 3402 Type II attestation and NIST2 alignment. The practical answer for your fleet depends entirely on which modules you license, so request a written module-by-module position rather than accepting a platform-level claim.
Is either worth it for a fleet under 20 vessels?
Rarely, and vessel count is the wrong test. The right test is module count and programme capacity. Both platforms deliver strong value where a fleet genuinely operates technical, procurement, QHSE, crewing and docking through one system with a shore team able to run a six to fifteen month implementation. A lean operator whose accounting stays put, whose crewing runs through a manning agent, and whose real pain is maintenance evidence and inspection readiness is buying an enterprise programme to solve a technical department problem. A focused cloud platform deploys in six to twelve weeks at published per-vessel pricing and changes nothing outside that department.
Third Column
Settle It With an Engineer, Not a Feature Grid
Hand a second engineer a login and thirty minutes with no training. Whichever platform produces a correctly closed job with photo evidence attached has answered the only question that matters on deck.
