[Sailing into the Future with K Shipbuilding] "Unmanned Autonomous Ships to Appear in 6 Years"

Lee Young-beom Hanwha Ocean Basic Performance Research Center Director
"Advancing Future Shipbuilding with Carbon-Free and Autonomous Navigation"

Editor's NoteWhat will the next decade look like for shipyards experiencing a boom for the first time in 10 years? The secret to Korea's shipbuilding success has been its advanced technology, exemplified by LNG carriers. The future depends on who secures the technology first. From eco-friendly fuel transitions in the carbon-neutral era to research on high-performance, high-efficiency, and environmentally friendly vessels, as well as automation, we examine the R&D status and strategies of the three major Korean shipbuilders.

Lee Young-beom, Executive Director of Hanwha Ocean. Photo by Yongjun Cho jun21@

"Hanwha Ocean's smart ship technology, which will become its future growth engine, has been developed to a tangible level. Following next year's development of the 'Connected Ship'?a vessel remotely operated from land?we are conducting R&D with the goal of implementing a 'Level 4' solution capable of full autonomous navigation by 2030."

Lee Young-beom, General Manager of the Basic Performance Research Center at Hanwha Ocean, recently told reporters about the company's autonomous navigation roadmap. This means that as early as six years from now, ships will be expected to navigate autonomously without crew onboard. In line with this goal, Hanwha Ocean plans to verify technology that allows remote control of crewed vessels in the second half of this year.

Lee said, "In the second half of this year, we plan to conduct actual sea trials of 'Hanbi,' an autonomous navigation test vessel equipped with Level 2 autonomous navigation technology." Like autonomous vehicles, ships have levels of autonomy. There are four levels in total: Level 1 involves partial autonomous navigation; Level 2 allows remote control while a crew member is onboard; Level 3 enables remote control without crew onboard; and Level 4 is full unmanned autonomous navigation.

Hanwha Ocean is focusing on autonomous ships because it is pushing the 'zero-carbon propulsion system' as a new growth engine. Kim Dong-kwan, Vice Chairman of Hanwha Group, has emphasized zero-carbon propulsion as a core part of the group's decarbonization vision and has supported related technology development. Lee said, "(Hanwha Ocean) is developing gas turbines powered solely by ammonia and plans to focus on developing zero-carbon propulsion gas carriers capable of electric propulsion. Additionally, we are advancing technology development for eco-friendly propulsion systems based on methanol and hydrogen, as well as accelerating the commercialization of carbon dioxide and hydrogen carriers."

Last month, Vice Chairman Kim unveiled Hanwha Group's decarbonization vision centered on zero-carbon propulsion gas carriers at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (WEF, Davos Forum) in Switzerland. Maritime transport accounts for 90% of global trade and is a major means of transporting various energy sources, contributing 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Kim proposed zero-carbon propulsion gas carriers that use 100% eco-friendly fuels and are capable of electric propulsion as a marine decarbonization solution.

Lee Young-beom, Executive Director of Hanwha Ocean. Photo by Yongjun Cho jun21@

Offshore wind power is also part of the decarbonization new business. Last year, Hanwha announced plans to invest 300 billion KRW in this sector. The company aims to build a marine renewable energy value chain that includes 'offshore wind turbine installation → offshore power generation → offshore substation → seawater desalination → hydrogen and ammonia production using water and electricity → transportation via hydrogen and ammonia carriers.'

Automation processes using robots are also accelerating. Lee said, "With the long-term motto of solving all welding through robots, we are expanding applications using proprietary robot design and control technologies." He added, "We will apply the latest digital and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to automate processes previously considered difficult to conquer, such as cable laying, surface preparation, and painting." Lee stated, "Hanwha Ocean, which has been a shipbuilding and heavy industry company until now, is now transforming into an 'Ocean Developer' and an 'Energy Solution Provider.' Combined with the group's strengths in renewable energy such as solar and wind power, it will become a key pillar of the group."

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