ABS and HD KSOE to Set New Industry Benchmarks for Digital Shipbuilding and Vessel Intelligence

Photo Caption (L to R): Ki-sun Chung, Chairman & CEO, HD Hyundai; Hyung Kwan Kim, President & CEO of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering; Patrick Ryan, ABS Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer; and John McDonald, ABS Chairman and CEO

ABS and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on digital technologies to strengthen safety and performance in shipbuilding.

The agreement establishes a framework for the organizations to collaborate on Digital Threads, secure and integrated flows of data, across the entire vessel value chain. Areas of focus will include digital engineering, autonomous vessel systems and integrated cybersecurity tools.

“This MOU is another milestone in the long-running collaboration between ABS and HD Hyundai. Digital technologies are reshaping shipbuilding, and this agreement reflects our shared commitment to lead at the cutting edge of the maritime industry, helping to improve safety and operational value now,” said John McDonald, ABS Chairman and CEO.

“Through collaboration with ABS, we expect to lead the development of digital engineering standards spanning the entire vessel lifecycle and to accelerate market entry by securing global class certifications,” said Ki-sun Chung, Chairman and CEO of HD Hyundai.

The two organizations will also explore the establishment of a 3D model-based approval and trusted data exchange between the shipyard and classification society.

This collaboration will further examine the integration between HD KSOE’s Software Defined Vessel architecture and ABS Wavesight™, the company's digital platform for fleet performance and compliance monitoring.

On the cybersecurity front, ABS and HD KSOE will jointly develop integrated cybersecurity and data safety guidelines for autonomous vessel environments, building on and extending beyond current IACS requirements to address the evolving threat landscape facing next-generation fleets.

■ Contact: ABS ww2.eagle.org/en