Ship Repair Industry Enters Smart Era... Busan City Selected for Smart Specialization Infrastructure Project

Support for Advanced Development of Busan's Repair Shipbuilding Industry through Platform Construction and Expansion of Cutting-Edge Equipment

Increased Ripple Effects on Shipping, Ship Management, Ship Supplies, and Machinery Steel Industry Relate

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan City (Acting Mayor Lee Byung-jin) has been finally selected for the ‘Smart Repair Shipbuilding Industry Support Infrastructure Project,’ a support project in the repair shipbuilding sector under the ‘2021 Smart Specialization Infrastructure Construction Project’ led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Although the repair shipbuilding market is expanding recently due to environmental regulations by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), there have been significant difficulties in maintaining market functions due to a lack of digital information systems and design capabilities, as well as an aging workforce.

At this point, it has become possible to promote a project worth 7.76 billion KRW (5.28 billion KRW national funds, 2.48 billion KRW city funds) to advance the repair shipbuilding industry.

The repair shipbuilding industry involves industrial activities such as ship modification, repair, and maintenance, focusing on external repair, internal repair, retrofit, and inspection of ships. It is linked to various industries including shipping, ship management, ship supplies, shipbuilding equipment, machinery and steel, and electrical and electronics industries, making it an industry capable of generating direct and indirect added value.

This project is led by Busan Technopark, with participating organizations including the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering, Korean Register, and Korea Ship Repair Cooperative.

The project proposal was submitted in March and was finally selected on April 2 through an evaluation by the review committee.

Busan City, together with participating organizations, will establish a cooperative system with related local institutions such as the Korea Plant Engineering Cooperative, Busan Port Authority, and local universities (Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Pukyong National University) to carry out the project over three years from 2021 to 2023.

The plans include ▲establishing a smart repair shipbuilding industry support platform ▲expanding advanced equipment such as eco-friendly blasting and reverse engineering, and providing technical support including inspection and certification ▲operating specialized repair shipbuilding education programs to attract youth ▲supporting marketing to pioneer new overseas markets.

In the future, it is expected to increase related industry sales (42 billion KRW) and create direct and indirect employment (more than 124 people), as well as generate high project synergy effects in conjunction with economic base-type New Deal projects.

Acting Mayor Lee Byung-jin of Busan said, “With the attraction of this project, we expect effects such as accident prevention and improvement of the surrounding environment in the Busan repair shipbuilding industry,” adding, “We will make Busan, where 70% of the domestic repair shipbuilding industry is concentrated, a leading center for the smartization of the repair shipbuilding industry in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.