'The Tesla of the Sea' Emerges... Hyundai's 'Autonomous Ship' Achieves World's First Ocean Crossing

Autonomous Navigation of 10,000km from US Southern Gulf of Mexico to Panama Canal and Pacific Ocean

Applied 2nd Phase Autonomous Navigation Solution 'Hynas 2.0'

Optimal Route Generation...7% Fuel and 5% Greenhouse Gas Reduction

The 180,000㎥ class LNG carrier Prism Carriage, built by Hyundai Heavy Industries last year and delivered to SK Shipping. Avikus, HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation specialist company, announced on the 2nd that this vessel successfully completed the world's first transoceanic voyage using autonomous navigation technology. (Photo by HD Hyundai)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Avikus, an autonomous navigation specialist company under HD Hyundai, the holding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, has succeeded in crossing the ocean with the world's first large vessel 'autonomous navigation.'

On the 2nd, Avikus announced that it had completed the autonomous navigation ocean crossing of the 180,000㎥ ultra-large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier "Prism Courage" in collaboration with SK Shipping. The vessel was equipped with Avikus's second-stage autonomous navigation solution, HiNAS 2.0. This voyage is the world's first case of crossing an ocean by controlling a ship using autonomous navigation technology. The ship departed from Freeport off the southern coast of the United States on the 1st of last month, passed through the Panama Canal, crossed the Pacific Ocean, and arrived at the LNG terminal in Boryeong, Chungcheongnam-do after 33 days of navigation. Of the approximately 20,000 km voyage, half, or 10,000 km, was autonomously navigated using HiNAS 2.0.

HD Hyundai Abicus and SK Shipping have successfully completed autonomous ocean crossing of large commercial vessels. The photo shows the captain and navigator examining Abicus's Hynas 2.0 system. (Photo by HD Hyundai)

HiNAS 2.0, developed by Avikus, generates optimal routes and navigation speeds based on Hyundai Global Service's Integrated Smart Ship Solution (ISS). It is a second-stage autonomous navigation system where artificial intelligence (AI) perceives the surrounding environment such as weather and waves, as well as the ship itself, and controls the ship's steering commands in real time. The second-stage autonomous navigation technology means that, in addition to the perception and judgment functions of the first-stage technology, it is capable of steering and control. During this crossing, the vessel equipped with HiNAS 2.0 autonomously navigated the optimal route, improving fuel efficiency by about 7% and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 5%. Additionally, it accurately recognized the positions of other vessels during navigation and avoided collision risks over 100 times.

After receiving a certificate of results for this autonomous navigation ocean crossing from the American classification society, Avikus plans to commercialize HiNAS 2.0 in the second half of this year.

Avikus, launched in December 2020 as Hyundai Heavy Industries Group's first in-house venture, succeeded last June in the complete autonomous navigation of a 12-passenger cruise ship, the first in Korea. Earlier this year, it showcased autonomous navigation technology at CES 2022, the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition, and is accelerating its lead in autonomous navigation technology by cooperating with the American Bureau of Shipping for step-by-step basic certification of ship autonomous navigation technology.

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