Ha Hwa-jeong (right), CEO of J.Ocean Heavy Industries, and Kim Jae-hyeong, CEO of Ucast, sign an MOU Tuesday to build a smart yard at the Gunsan shipyard. [J.Ocean Heavy Industries]
Ha Hwa-jeong (right), CEO of J.Ocean Heavy Industries, and Kim Jae-hyeong, CEO of Ucast, sign an MOU Tuesday to build a smart yard at the Gunsan shipyard. [J.Ocean Heavy Industries]

J.Ocean Heavy Industries has joined forces with Ucast to transform the Gunsan shipyard into a next-generation smart shipyard. J.Ocean Heavy Industries is a company established by Eco Prime Marine Pacific — the largest shareholder of HJ Shipbuilding & Construction — to acquire the Gunsan shipyard.

J.Ocean announced Tuesday that it signed an MOU with Ucast for a project to build a smart shipyard at Gunsan and introduce physical AI solutions based on a private 5G network. The signing ceremony was attended by J.Ocean Heavy Industries CEO Ha Hwa-jeong, Ucast CEO Kim Jae-hyeong and officials from both companies.

The agreement aims to advance the Gunsan shipyard by combining J.Ocean's shipbuilding and marine infrastructure with Ucast's private 5G network, AI transformation and Internet of Things solutions, and robotics technology.

J.Ocean Heavy Industries will provide the site, on-site facilities and other infrastructure needed to turn the Gunsan shipyard into a smart shipyard, and will create an effective testing environment through field process data and shipyard-specific scenarios.

Ucast will draw up a master plan for the project and take charge of four key workstreams at the site: designing and optimizing the private 5G wireless communications infrastructure; building a 3D digital-twin platform for real-time monitoring of assets and processes across the entire shipyard; deploying a high-reliability IoT sensor network to manage and track key assets such as cranes and ship blocks; and establishing a paperless work and process management system.

The two companies will also deploy an intelligent AI-based CCTV system and an IoT sensor network monitoring gas and environmental conditions in confined spaces to prevent serious industrial accidents. They plan to drive autonomous manufacturing innovation in the shipbuilding industry by integrating industrial and collaborative robots, autonomous driving solutions, and physical AI solutions tailored to shipyard environments — including welding, painting and transport operations.

The two companies also agreed to jointly participate in government support projects related to AI transformation industrial-complex demonstration and private 5G network expansion. If the initiative advances to a government-funded project, the partners plan to give Ucast first priority to lead and form a consortium.

"This agreement is a symbolic step toward integrating cutting-edge private 5G and physical AI technology into the Gunsan shipyard," a J.Ocean Heavy Industries official said. "We will accelerate the digital transformation of our processes by applying Ucast's technological capabilities to the Gunsan shipyard, and set the standard for a smart, next-generation shipyard."


kaf2002@heraldcorp.com