Avikus, a Hyundai group subsidiary, has successfully carried out a transoceanic voyage of a large LNG carrier using autonomous navigation technology
Together with SK Shipping, Avikus, which specialises in autonomous navigation, completed the autonomous voyage with 180,000-m2 LNG carrier Prism Courage.
Avikus was launched in December 2020 as HHI Group’s inhouse venture and conducted the first fully autonomous operation of a 12-seater cruise ship in South Korea.
Prism Courage is equipped with Avikus’ HiNAS 2.0 autonomous navigation system. The ship’s 33-day voyage began when it departed from the Freeport on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico 1 May 2022, sailing through the Panama Canal before arriving at the Boryeong LNG Terminal in South Chungcheong Province in South Korea.
In total, the ship sailed half of the total distance of roughly 20,000 km using the autonomous navigation technology.
HiNAS 2.0 creates optimal routes and speeds based on Hyundai Global Service’s Integrated Smartship Solution. The artificial intelligence (AI) recognises the surrounding physical environment, such as weather, wave heights and nearby ships, and then controls the vessel’s steering commands in real-time. The Level 2 autonomous navigation technology can control and operate the ship in addition to the functions of recognition and judgment.
In this ocean crossing, Prism Courage, equipped with HiNAS 2.0, was operated autonomously on the optimal routes, increasing fuel efficiency by around 7% while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 5%. Avikus reported that the system accurately recognised the locations of nearby ships during operation to avoid collision about 100 times.
This voyage was conducted under real-time monitoring of class societies Korean Register of Shipping and American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) to verify the performance and stability of the technology. Avikus plans to commercialise HiNAS 2.0 this year after receiving certification from ABS for the results of this self-propelled ocean crossing.
Avikus chief executive Do-hyeong Lim said, “We have successfully tested the Level 2 system to operate a vessel beyond the Level 1 technology providing optimal routes,” adding, “We will lead innovation by upgrading autonomous navigation solutions, not only for large merchant ships, but also for small leisure boats.”
