The city of Ulsan is pushing ahead with the construction of an "AI Ship Equipment and Advanced Components Testing and Verification Center" targeting the future vessel market in response to tightened greenhouse gas regulations by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Ulsan Metropolitan City announced Monday that the project was selected in the "2026 Shipbuilding and Marine Plant New Infrastructure Development Project" competition hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). With a total investment of 38.2 billion won ($28 million) — 20 billion won from the central government and 18.2 billion won from the city budget — the project aims to build testing infrastructure for AI-based autonomous ship equipment and advanced composite materials and components for vessels, securing a dominant competitive edge for Ulsan's shipbuilding industry.
The shipbuilding industry has faced growing demand to apply composite materials for vessel weight reduction, improved production efficiency and energy savings under IMO environmental regulations. Industry officials say that applying advanced composite materials to propulsion systems, wind-assisted propulsion devices and outfitting components can reduce fuel consumption through lighter vessels while improving durability and lowering maintenance costs.
The testing and verification center will be built as a single-story facility on a 2,640-square-meter site within the Mipo district of the Ulsan Mipo National Industrial Complex in Dong-gu, Ulsan, from this year through 2030. The project will be led by the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), with joint participation from Ulsan Technopark, the Korea Testing & Research Institute for Chemical Industry, and the Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering, establishing a customized technology support system for companies.
The center will house 18 types of core equipment. In the composite materials and components sector, the facility will support prototype production covering the full cycle from design to manufacturing, processing, testing and evaluation for fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP)-based vessel structural materials, exterior components and propulsion system parts. Performance verification will reflect actual operating conditions including mechanical, structural, environmental, corrosion-resistance and cryogenic testing.
In the AI ship equipment sector, the center will build a virtual-and-field integrated simulation system to test and evaluate the safety and repeatability of autonomous navigation algorithms, situational awareness sensor modules and control logic.
Ulsan city views the center as a "full-cycle technology support platform" that handles everything from design and prototype production to performance verification and international certification compliance in one place. Officials expect the center to strengthen export competitiveness for small and mid-sized ship equipment makers that possessed the technology but struggled to enter overseas markets due to a lack of verified testing data.
"With this project selection, Ulsan has laid the groundwork to lead the future shipbuilding industry innovation cluster," an Ulsan city official said. "We will spare no effort in providing support so that Ulsan can maintain its dominant competitive edge in the future vessel market in step with IMO environmental regulations and the spread of autonomous ships."