Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Initiates Establishment of Marine Unmanned Equipment Certification System

27th Minsaeng Discussion Forum Held on the 18th in Jeongeup, Jeonbuk

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is promoting the establishment of a certification system for marine unmanned equipment. The plan is to systematize the performance evaluation of marine-related equipment to promote the industrialization of equipment.

On the 18th, the government held the "27th Public Livelihood Discussion: 'Jeonbuk, the Economic Forward Base Opening a New West Coast Era'" in Jeongeup, Jeonbuk. On this day, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced plans to develop a testing system capable of verifying the performance of marine equipment from parts to finished products over the next five years, and to build a total of three testing and evaluation centers for this purpose. Since 2023, through the "Development of Demonstration Testing and Evaluation Technology for Marine Unmanned Systems (R&D)" project, the ministry has been working on establishing the country's first official testing and evaluation system for marine equipment and constructing testing facilities.

In particular, in the Jeonbuk region, leveraging the constant temperature characteristics of Saemangeum, a testing site and control center will be constructed to evaluate the basic performance, autonomous navigation, navigation control, and mission execution performance of marine unmanned equipment. Construction of the testing site, including the installation of equipment to be deployed, will begin in earnest from 2025. After completion in 2026, a pilot operation of the testing site will be conducted to establish group standards for marine unmanned equipment.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries expects to promote the industrialization of marine equipment through the country's first performance evaluation and certification system for marine unmanned equipment. Instead of individual companies having to conduct performance evaluations on their own, they will be able to use official testing and evaluation, significantly reducing performance verification costs. Additionally, small and medium-sized enterprises will be able to accumulate commercialization achievements and prove product reliability based on the testing and evaluation system, which is expected to greatly assist their entry into domestic and international markets.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries stated, "Starting with the inland performance verification testing site to be established in the Jeonbuk region, not only marine equipment manufacturers but also related industries such as the marine plant industry and underwater work fields like marine debris collection are expected to be concentrated, creating employment opportunities in various areas."

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