Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world’s largest shipbuilder, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for Creating an Eco System for Smart Ships with SK Shipping, Intel, Microsoft, the Ulsan Center for Creative Economy & Innovation (UCCEI) and the Daejeon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation (DCCEI).

Under the MOU, HHI and its partners will join forces to help domestic small and medium-sized ICT companies to develop “17 Ship Service Software,” that meet the needs of shipowners for safe ship operation and improved crew well-being.

The Ship Service Software that is planned to be developed and applied to smart ships by 2019 will enable ballast tank inspection, remote medical treatment services for crews, virtual reality training, automatic voyage information reporting, and maintenance for key equipment. HHI and SK Shipping will provide technological mentoring services and smart ship platforms for the to-be-developed software while UCCEI and DCCEI hold briefing sessions on technology demand for shipbuilders and shipping liners to encourage the participation of the ITC companies.

An HHI official said, “The Korean shipbuilding industry has developed on the back of the advanced manufacturing technology but now is the time for us to shift our focus to differentiated ship service technologies. We see that customized and value-added software will play a role in reviving the industry.”

In May this year, HHI and Accenture jointly unveiled OceanLinkTM, its version of smart ship, for the shipbuilding, shipping, and onshore-logistics sectors. With a network of sensors and analytics software, shipowners can monitor a ship’s status and condition in real-time and have at their disposal a wide range of ship operation information including weather, location, and onboard equipment and cargo status data. For more on OceanLinkTM, please see http://hyundaiheavy.com/news/view?idx=589&currentPage=1