HD Hyundai Avikus to supply autonomous navigation solutions for HJ Shipbuilding vessels

Officials from HJ Shipbuilding and HD Hyundai Avikus pose for a photo after signing an MOU on the supply of autonomous navigation solutions. [HJ Shipbuilding]
Officials from HJ Shipbuilding and HD Hyundai Avikus pose for a photo after signing an MOU on the supply of autonomous navigation solutions. [HJ Shipbuilding]

HJ Shipbuilding announced Monday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with HD Hyundai Avikus to supply autonomous navigation solutions and pursue technology cooperation.

The two companies signed the MOU on June 4 at Posidonia 2026, the world's largest maritime exhibition, held at the Metropolitan Expo Centre in Athens, Greece.

Under the agreement, the two companies will apply HiNAS Control — HD Hyundai Avikus's Level 2 autonomous navigation solution for large commercial vessels — to ships developed and built by HJ Shipbuilding, and will continue mutual technology cooperation going forward. HD Hyundai Avikus developed HiNAS Control using AI and Internet of Things technology and successfully commercialized it in 2022.

HJ Shipbuilding said the MOU is aimed at securing a competitive edge in the next-generation, high-value vessel market. Autonomous vessels can significantly cut fuel and labor costs, which together account for roughly 80 percent of commercial ship operating expenses.

"As vessel unmanning advances rapidly, the need to proactively prepare for the future ship market is growing," HJ Shipbuilding CEO Yoo Sang-chul said. "This agreement lays the foundation for our autonomous vessel development, and we will continue to build a track record and strengthen our technological capabilities."

Meanwhile, HJ Shipbuilding obtained concept design approval from the Korean Register of Shipping on June 4 for a 10,000-TEU biofuel-powered container ship. Marine biofuel is a carbon-reducing fuel that blends conventional fossil-based bunker oil with a set proportion of plant- or animal-derived biofuel.


yeongdai@heraldcorp.com