Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI), the world’s biggest shipbuilder, announced today that it developed Hyundai Intelligent Collision Avoidance Support System (HiCASS) for the first time in Korea to ensure safe and optimum navigation of the vessels.

The system searches the optimum sea routes and prevents collisions by automatically detecting potential obstacles such as ships and reefs within 50 km. In addition, the enhanced accuracy of the system enables vessels to identify hazards based on the type of vessel, weather conditions, waves and wind. Also, the system is equipped with a collision notification system that signals “Caution”, “Urgent” and “Danger” which ensures safe operation at sea.

HiCASS, installed along with voyage systems such as Automatic Radar Plotting Aid (ARPA), Automatic Identification System (AIS) and Electronic Chart System (ECS), can analyze locations of the obstacles according to International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS).

HHI completed its own performance test on the system by running it on a 13,800 TEU containership and a 162,000 m³ LNG carrier, respectively in May and June this year. The system is scheduled to be commercialized from 2016 after the sea trial for testing its performance and stability on long distance routes.