en.Wedoany.com Reported - South Korea's HD Hyundai Group is advancing the development of the shipbuilding industry's first integrated solution for automated hull status diagnosis, cleaning, and performance verification, known as the "Total Hull Care Solution." Recently, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, along with HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, HD Hyundai Robotics, HD Hyundai Marine Solutions, Avikus, and other HD Hyundai Group affiliates, as well as Korean marine coatings company KCC Group and Korean underwater robot manufacturer TAS Global, signed a joint development and commercialization agreement.
HD Hyundai Group is one of South Korea's largest shipbuilding and heavy industry conglomerates, headquartered in Seoul. Its core subsidiaries include HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, with businesses spanning shipbuilding, offshore engineering, engines, robotics, and energy solutions. Founded in 1958, KCC Group is a leading South Korean coatings and specialty chemicals company with strong expertise in marine antifouling coatings. TAS Global is a representative South Korean company in the marine underwater robot sector, specializing in eco-friendly ship maintenance robotics technology. It was selected by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries as the lead organization for the national research project "Development of Biofouling Treatment Technology for Ship Hulls," undertaking a five-year national research task worth 16.3 billion KRW (approximately 74 million USD).
The "Total Hull Care Solution" is an integrated management system covering the entire process of hull status diagnosis, cleaning, coating damage inspection, and performance verification. It enables real-time monitoring of hull conditions and provides optimal maintenance management plans based on data. In recent years, managing marine organisms attached to hull surfaces has become a critical factor in improving ship fuel efficiency and meeting environmental regulations. However, traditional manual and periodic cleaning methods make it difficult to monitor hull conditions in real time, driving growing demand for data-based regular monitoring and predictive maintenance systems. Under the agreement, participating companies will jointly develop core technologies, including hull status diagnosis using autonomous underwater robots, robot cleaning standards that minimize coating damage along with antifouling coating specifications, fuel efficiency optimization integrating hull condition monitoring with navigation data, and automated systems for cleaning effectiveness verification and maintenance.
HD Hyundai Group will leverage its robotics expertise to lead the development of underwater robots capable of automating the entire process of hull status diagnosis, maintenance needs assessment, hull cleaning, and performance verification. TAS Global's Mmech ship-mounted remotely operated underwater robot system is the world's first ROV with integrated cleaning functions, featuring a retractable camera for inspecting ship sea chests and enabling one-stop completion of hull cleaning and underwater inspections. Compared to traditional manual diving operations, the company's robotic cleaning solution can reduce the work cycle from five days to one day, with costs at just one-tenth of the traditional model, ultimately saving shipowners 40% in maintenance expenses. This collaboration marks the industry's first attempt to integrate shipbuilding, coatings, and robotics into a unified solution, helping to improve ship fuel efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and expand the ship MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) market.
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