Hanwha Ocean Partners with ABS to Validate Digital and Autonomous Navigation Solutions

Signing of Basic Agreement for Technology Verification of 'Digital Sipbuilding'

Hanwha Ocean will collaborate with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) to verify 'Digital Shipbuilding' technology until 2026.

On the 29th, Hanwha Ocean announced that it signed a Strategic Framework Agreement for Digital Transformation of Shipbuilding with ABS to cooperate on the demonstration and verification of digital production technology, cybersecurity, autonomous navigation, and smart ship solution technologies.

Digital Shipbuilding refers to implementing all ship production processes using virtual reality techniques. It is a necessary technology for management innovation and breakthrough productivity improvement in the shipbuilding industry.

Based on this framework agreement, the two companies plan to sequentially conduct joint research aimed at certifying digital technologies related to the smart yard and smart ships developed by Hanwha Ocean.

Jung Joong-kyu, Head of Central Research Institute at Hanwha Ocean (sixth from the left), Patrick Ryan, Chief Technology Officer of ABS (seventh from the left), and other representatives from both companies are posing for a commemorative photo after signing the "Basic Agreement for Digital Shipbuilding Technology Verification."
[Photo by Hanwha Ocean]

First, Hanwha Ocean plans to obtain Product Design Assessment (PDA) and Manufacturing Assessment (MA) approvals for its AI image analysis-based ship draft measurement system (Draft Reading System), which the company has already developed.

Subsequently, through technological cooperation, they plan to acquire ABS certification for technologies such as remote inspection, ship cybersecurity, smart ship platform cybersecurity, and safety and economic operation solutions of HS4, their proprietary smart ship solution.

A Hanwha Ocean official stated, “Obtaining ABS certification, which has conducted numerous demonstrations and verifications in the smart yard and smart ship fields, will secure product reliability,” adding, “We expect to gain a more advantageous position in the future global autonomous ship market.”