Hyundai Heavy Industries plans to develop unmanned ships

By Song Chang-sup & Kim Tae-gyu, UPI News Korea

Hyundai Heavy Industries is trying to develop an unmanned ship by 2030. 

Photo courtesy of Hyundai Heavy Industries

SEOUL, April 8 (UPI) -- South Korean shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries aims to develop a remote-controlled vessel by 2025 and a fully autonomous ship by 2030.

The Seoul-based company said Thursday that its CEO Lee Sang-kyun had revealed these goals in his YouTube message to employees. HHI is the world's largest shipbuilder.

In addition, Lee disclosed the corporation's long-term target of increasing its sales from $7.2 billion in 2021 to $13 billion in 2025 and $17 billion in 2030.

"The development of autonomous ships is one of our top priorities because this can substantially reduce maritime accidents and increase efficiency by finding out the optimal routes," an HHI spokesman told UPI News Korea.

"We have worked on this technology for quite a long time. Other players also are paying attention to the technology," he said.

In 2020, the South Korean government started developing self-driving ship technology, a $133 million project that is slated to continue through 2025.

Earlier this year, the Nippon Foundation and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding operated fully autonomous ship navigation systems for a 728-foot ferry in Japan.

Companies globally also have conducted research on the technology required for remote and autonomous operations, including sensors, system integration and wireless monitoring.

Included in this list are companies such as Kongsberg, Toshiba, Rolls Royce, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, BAE Systems and ABB.

The International Maritime Organization is preparing a regulatory framework for ships with varying degrees of automation.

For example, the organization began discussing legal regulations for the ships' safety in 2018 and came up with a roadmap for regulations last year.

"Just like self-driving cars on land and unmanned aerial vehicles in the air, we will see autonomous surface ships at sea in the not-so-distant future," Daelim University automotive Professor Kim Pil-soo said in a phone interview.

"In fact, autonomous driving technology is much more important for ships than for automobiles. When developing unmanned ships, however, more sophisticated technologies are necessary because any accident can lead to catastrophes at sea," he said.