This photo, provided by Samsung Heavy Industries Co. on Oct. 19, 2020, shows a person controlling the company’s remote autonomous ship in seas off Geoje Island via a remote control system at a research center in Daejeon, 250 kilometers away from the seas.
SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean shipbuilding industry is accelerating efforts to develop autonomous vessel systems.
Amid expectations that the size of the autonomous ship market would reach 180 trillion won (US$153.8 billion) by 2025, the industry is speeding up technological commercialization aimed at securing an advantage in the promising market.
Samsung Heavy Industries Co. succeeded in demonstrating the world’s first autonomous navigation system that helps two autonomous ships travelling on independent trajectories avoid collision.
The technology, known as Samsung Autonomous Ship (SAS), is scheduled to be commercialized by 2022.
Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. is now engaged in the development of an autonomous ship operation system dubbed Hyundai Intelligent Navigation Assistant System (HiNAS) through its in-house startup Avikus.
The shipbuilding industry is placing emphasis not only on autonomous operation systems but also on cyber security systems, since the hijacking of such ships could lead to massive accidents.
The smart ship platform DSME Smartship Solutions (DS4) developed by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. recently acquired the industry’s first highest grade certificate in the cyber security area from the U.S. ship quality assurance and risk management company ABS.
Samsung Heavy is also engaged in the development of a security solution exclusive for autonomous ships in collaboration with Samsung SDS Co., an IT service unit of Samsung Group.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
