SEOUL, June 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Autonomous ship solution developer Avikus, a subsidiary of major South Korean shipyard HD Hyundai, has carried out autonomous navigation of a large ship across the ocean, becoming the first company in the world to do so.
Avikus said Thursday it had successfully completed autonomous navigation of 180,000 square-meter-class ultra-large liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker Prism Courage together with SK Shipping Co.
This transoceanic voyage is the world’s first case of a vessel using autonomous navigation technology, according to the company.
The vessel was set up with HiNAS 2.0, Avikus’ Level 2 autonomous navigation solution.
Its artificial intelligence (AI) recognizes the weather, ocean waves and nearby environment to issue steering orders in real-time, and is capable of freely maneuvering the ship.
The ship set sail from Freeport on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico on on May 1, passed through the Panama Canal and arrived at the Boryeong LNG Terminal in South Chungcheong Province in South Korea 33 days later.
The ship sailed 20,000 kilometers on its journey with HiNAS 2.0 at the helm for 10,000 kilometers.
Image Credit: HD Hyundai / photonews@koreabizwire.com
