SK Shipping’s LNG carrier completes autonomous transoceanic trip

SK Shipping’s 2021-built LNG carrier Prism Courage has completed a transoceanic voyage using autonomous navigation technologies developed by Avikus, a unit of South Korea’s HD Hyundai.

HD Hyundai, previously known as Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, said in a statement that this marks the first-ever transoceanic voyage of a large merchant ship relying on autonomous navigation technologies.

Built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, the 299 meters long Prism Courage has a capacity of about 180,000 cbm. It features WinGD’s dual-fuel engines and GTT’s Mark III Flex containment system.

Avikus equipped the vessel with its HiNAS 2.0 autonomous navigation solution.

According to the statement, the LNG carrier departed from the Freeport LNG export facility on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico on May 1.

It passed through the Panama Canal, and finally arrived at the Boryeong LNG import terminal, operated by GS Energy and SK E&S, in South Chungcheong Province in Korea after 33 days.

Moreover, the vessel sailed half of roughly 20,000 kilometers in total distance with the autonomous navigation technology HiNAS 2.0, the statement said.

Future maritime mobility

Autonomous navigation technology is drawing attention as an innovative technology for future maritime mobility, HD Hyundai said in the statement.

It can solve workforce shortages in the maritime transportation industry, reduce pollutants, and improve safety by completely removing the possibility of human errors, it said.

Avikus’ HiNAS 2.0 creates optimal routes and speeds based on Hyundai Global Service’s Integrated Smartship Solution.

Its artificial intelligence recognizes the surrounding environment, such as weather and wave heights, and nearby ships, and then controls the vessel’s steering commands in real-time, the statement said.

In this ocean crossing, the LNG carrier was operated autonomously on the optimal routes, increasing the fuel efficiency by around 7 percent while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 5 percent, it said.

In addition, the system accurately recognized the locations of nearby ships during operation to avoid collision over 100 times, according to the statement.

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and the Korea Register of Shipping (KR) monitored the voyage in real-time to verify the performance and stability of the technology.

Avikus plans to commercialize HiNAS 2.0 within this year after receiving a certification from ABS for the results of this self-propelled ocean crossing.

- Advertisements -

Most Popular

Delfin plans to take FID on first floating LNG producer in Q2

Delfin Midstream, the developer of a floating LNG export project in the Gulf of Mexico, is expecting to take...

ExxonMobil working on larger Rovuma LNG export project in Mozambique

US energy giant ExxonMobil has boosted the capacity of the planned Rovuma LNG onshore terminal in Mozambique and is...

Mexico Pacific seals another LNG supply deal with Shell

A unit of LNG giant Shell has signed another long-term deal to buy liquefied natural gas from Mexico Pacific,...

More News Like This

Capital Product Partners takes delivery of seventh LNG carrier

New York-listed Capital Product Partners has taken delivery of its seventh liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier in South Korea. South...

GTT clinches HHI gig for LNG carrier trio

South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries has awarded a new contract to French LNG containment giant GTT to design...

JP Morgan, Shell take delivery of newbuild LNG carrier

Global Meridian Holdings, part of JP Morgan Asset Management, has recently taken delivery of one 174,000-cbm LNG carrier chartered...

Hyundai Heavy to build LNG carrier trio worth about $783 million

South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries has won a contract to build three liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers worth...