The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on Nov. 20 that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for cooperation in developing AI technologies for the shipbuilding and maritime industry with five companies and institutions: HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Hyundai Robotics, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), and University of Ulsan. A signing ceremony was held at HD Hyundai Global Research and Development (R&D) Center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon, HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun, and UNIST President Park Jong-rae attended the ceremony to discuss future cooperation plans.

The five institutions agreed to pursue cooperation that takes advantage of Ulsan’s locational strengths, where research and educational hubs such as HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Ulsan Shipyard and UNIST are concentrated, and furthermore the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region where nearby manufacturing industries are densely located, by immediately applying data generated from shipyards to AI model training, redeploying developed technologies to field operations, and promoting industry-academia personnel exchange.

The government plans to first develop ‘shipbuilding-specialized foundation models’ that can streamline field operations including ship design, manufacturing processes such as welding, painting, and assembly, and safety management. The shipbuilding process is a particularly challenging field for model development due to its complexity, the need for skilled workers for high-difficulty tasks, and the abundance of unstructured data that is difficult for AI to learn.

To overcome this challenge, UNIST plans to collaborate with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to establish a Shipbuilding Industry AI Research Institute and develop multimodal (multi-model) and multi-agent control systems capable of learning various data types including text, images, and videos, as well as active and intelligent design and production technologies. The institute also revealed its vision to expand into the Korea Industrial AI Convergence Center, a physical AI hub that will research not only shipbuilding but also domestic manufacturing AI in general. HD Hyundai will also soon introduce its proprietary AI Master Agent technology to field operations to build expertise and expedite the securing of infrastructure such as graphics processing units (GPUs).

The Ministry of Science and ICT will pursue regulatory improvements that hinder AI shipyard construction by utilizing the regulatory sandbox system, which temporarily suspends regulations related to new technologies. To enable AI to understand shipyard field operations and ultimately implement technology where robots replace welding in the medium to long term, behavioral data is required. This refers to data refined in video format so that AI robots can observe and imitate welding and other tasks currently performed by human workers on-site. However, such data is classified as sensitive information like biometric data, making it difficult to freely utilize for AI learning. Additionally, when core new technologies such as ‘AI intelligent autonomous navigation technology’ are designated as national strategic technologies, restrictions arise for HD Hyundai to share data with external institutions like UNIST.

The government also plans to expand investment and talent development through cooperation with regional universities, digitize the know-how of highly skilled workers accumulated over half a century, and expand cooperation across industries by linking with the public-private partnership Manufacturing AX Alliance led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.

Since AI adoption in shipbuilding is challenging, the expected ripple effects upon implementation are significant, including work efficiency improvements, resolution of labor shortages, safety concern mitigation, and acquisition of new technologies such as autonomous ships. The industry shares the common view that AI innovation is urgent to outpace China’s pursuit and maximize new market opportunities such as cooperation with the U.S. MASGA Project, while the government also has the vision to achieve AI G3 by actively spreading AI across industries, making public-private synergy urgent.

Chung stated, “Recent order performance has been good and expectations for business expansion through MASGA cooperation are emerging, but frankly, thinking about China gives me a sense of crisis,” adding, “A Korea Economic Association survey showed predictions that China would surpass Korea even in shipbuilding within five years.” In response, Deputy Prime Minister Bae said, “We will provide unreserved support as a foundation to overcome the crisis in the domestic shipbuilding and maritime industry, seize opportunities, and accelerate entry into AI G3.”

HD Hyundai decided to expedite AI transformation by reorganizing AI-related organizations into the AIX Promotion Office directly overseen by the president of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering on Nov. 14. The company is pursuing the “Future Advanced Shipyard (FOS)” plan in partnership with global big tech company Palantir to build an intelligent autonomous operating shipyard that introduces simulation verification to all processes from design to delivery by 2030, increasing productivity by 30% and shortening construction periods by 30%.

Source: BusinessKorea