Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) subsidiary Avikus forms an alliance with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) collaborating on real-life trials of autonomous ship technologies.
Avikus, recently announced in Las Vegas, wherein the global major tech show event CES 2022 is undergoing and wherein the firm has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with ABS to obtain the Approval in Principle (AIP) for the implementation of autonomous ship technologies.
The Signing Ceremony was attended by Kisun Chung, President, and CEO of Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings and Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), Do-Hyeong Lim, CEO of Avikus, and John McDonald is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of ABS.
As per the Avikus sources, With the MOU signed, Avikus commences the stage-by-stage demonstration tests for its numerous solutions comprising of the Hyundai Intelligent Navigation Assistant System (HiNAS): Hyundai Intelligence Berthing Assistance System (HiBAS): and Hyundai Intelligent Navigation Assistant System 2.0 (HiNAS2.0), in compliance with the ABS Guide for Autonomous and Remote Control Functions published in July 2021.
ABS is a maritime classification society and is a member of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). ABS identifies technological suitability and selects the relevant criteria for cutting-edge maritime technology and offshore structures while promoting stable maritime industry development.
As per Avikus Sources, via the subsequent tests, the firm will be competent to obtaining each certificate by stage for its autonomous vessel technologies, while ABS will be responsible for reviewing the design, regulating the testing procedures, and verifying the implementation for each stage based on the actual operation data of Avikus.
From trials of the autonomous technologies in real-life conditions, the joint efforts from the two firms will be an integral step in building the maritime autonomous operations into a practical reality. Lessons learned from this collaboration will also contribute to the development and improvement of standards and regulations for autonomous technology and operations.
Avikus CEO Lim stated: “The agreement with ABS holds a great significance as it promotes the technology standardization through the stage-by-stage certification of Avikus’ proprietary technologies. With these commitments, we will contribute to expanding the autonomous vessel market and proactively preoccupy the related markets.”
John McDonald, ABS Executive Vice President, and Chief Operating Officer stated: “Autonomous vessels will have a significant role to play in the future of maritime transportation but they will need to be at least as safe as existing vessels. It will take extensive research and development activity, teamwork, and sharing of expertise among the leading maritime players to get us there. That’s why this agreement is a game-changer, as it unites ABS’ insight with HHI’s expertise to develop practical applications of the technology.”
According to Avikus, post the successful demonstration of the fully autonomous cruising as what it slates to be announced as an industry first in Korea in June 2021, it is aiming to jointly determine the autonomous shipping technology with ABS for a transoceanic voyage of a large-scale commercial vessel which is presently under development.
According to Acute Market Reports, a global market research firm, the autonomous vessel, related material and equipment markets are all expected to nurture by 12.6% annually and reach USD 235.7 billion in its market size by 2028.
At CES 2022, Avikus has unveiled a leisure boat equipped with fully autonomous navigation technology as well as presented a future vision of the maritime mobility sector centering on autonomous vessel technology through simulated navigation applying the virtual reality technology.
Also, view the article on HHI
