Korean shipbuilders are forging alliances with global artificial intelligence (AI) leaders to commercialize autonomous navigation technology, a capability expected to determine the performance of unmanned vessels widely regarded as the "game changer" of future naval warfare. Having maintained their global leadership through vessel construction capabilities such as quality and delivery, the companies now aim to secure competitiveness as providers of intelligent unmanned platforms that combine AI and software, asserting leadership in the next phase of shipbuilding competition.
According to the industry on Monday, Samsung Heavy Industries recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Orca AI, an Israeli maritime technology startup, to jointly develop next-generation autonomous vessel solutions. The core of the partnership is combining Samsung Heavy's proprietary autonomous navigation system, "SAS," with Orca AI's AI-based maritime operations platform. The two companies plan to conduct joint research to optimize autonomous navigation systems based on large-scale operational data.
Samsung Heavy plans to install this solution on new vessels going forward and advance it to enable safe navigation without human intervention, even on complex coastal routes or narrow waterways. Orca AI possesses technology that uses high-resolution cameras and computer vision to detect in real time the blind spots that conventional radar cannot capture.
Samsung Heavy has been conducting field trials of SAS since developing it in 2019. Last year, a 15,000-TEU container vessel operated by Taiwan's Evergreen and equipped with SAS successfully crossed the Pacific Ocean. The company is currently working on enhancing fuel efficiency through SAS optimization.
HD Hyundai has begun advancing its proprietary autonomous navigation system "HiNAS" in partnership with Anduril, a U.S. AI defense technology company and its partner in unmanned vessel development. Last month, HD Hyundai expanded the scope of its cooperation with Anduril from unmanned surface vessels (USVs) to unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), further strengthening their unmanned vessel systems partnership.
Combining HiNAS with Anduril's AI-based surveillance and detection systems is expected to significantly raise technical sophistication. Anduril has developed "Lattice," an operating system that processes vast data collected from thermal imaging cameras, drones, and underwater sensors to integrate and manage battlefield situations using AI, and is cooperating with the U.S. government.
Hanwha Ocean has also launched joint development of autonomous USVs with U.S. autonomous navigation solutions provider Havoc AI. Havoc AI stands out in the fields of swarm operations of small unmanned vessels and intelligent autonomous control. Hanwha's plan is to combine Hanwha Ocean's vessel construction capabilities, Hanwha Systems' combat management systems (CMS) and other systems integration capabilities with Havoc AI's autonomous navigation software to develop a powerful maritime unmanned system.
Shipbuilders are tightening ties with global AI firms based on the judgment that each company's level of autonomous navigation technology will ultimately determine the landscape of the coming era of unmanned commercial vessels and naval ships. As the International Maritime Organization (IMO) tightens environmental regulations and the global shortage of maritime personnel worsens, discussions on adopting autonomous navigation solutions to improve fuel efficiency and minimize accidents caused by human error are actively underway in the commercial shipping market.
In the maritime defense market, AI technology and data are also key elements for completing unmanned vessel systems. Cooperation with U.S. AI companies is expected to work favorably for entry into the U.S. market, where discussions on the development and adoption of unmanned vessels are progressing most rapidly. "In the past, it was a 'hardware battle' over how precisely and quickly one could build a ship, but in the future it will be a 'software battle' over how smart a brain one can implant in the ship," an industry official said. "Whether we can establish our technology as a global standard will determine our future competitiveness."
