The PRISM COURAGE, an 180,000 square-meter-class ultra-large LNG carrier, departed from the Freeport at the Gulf of Mexico on May 1, 2022. It is scheduled to transport LNG from Texas to South Korea.
This journey will occur under total autonomous control. This ship runs on an Avikus’ HiNAS 2.0 is the navigation system.
According to a Hyundai press release, Avikus’ HiNAS 2.0 is the navigation system that creates optimal routes and speeds based on Hyundai Global Service’s Integrated Smartship Solution (ISS). Its artificial intelligence recognizes the surrounding environment, such as weather and 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 (Level 1 autonomous navigation technology).
This ship will pass through the Panama Canal and sail approximately 10,000 kilometers under HiNAS 2.0 navigation system. The journey will have human monitors aboard the ship to take over if anomalies are detected.
This autonomous navigation system was presented this year at the 2022 CES. According to New Market Reports:
“Autonomous ships are believed to be capable of reducing operating costs by nearly 20%. In addition, autonomous ships eliminate the possibility of human errors, thereby reducing the number of accidents. Furthermore, the market growth is also expected from the rising military budgets over unmanned systems. Rising technological advancement is estimated to provide substantial boost to the adoption of autonomous ships across the defense sector.”