April 28, 2024

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(Yonhap)

South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Mipo Dockyard on Friday held a christening ceremony for a container ship in this southeastern port, which is slated to undergo a test for autonomous navigation.

The 1,800 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) vessel, christened the Pos Singapore, will be delivered to Pan Ocean, South Korea's leading bulk carrier, at the end of this month, the shipyard said.

In April 2022, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, one of shipbuilding titan HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering's three units, received the order to build the vessel, which is 172 meters long, 27.4 meters wide and 14.3 meters high.

The first of its kind in South Korea, the vessel with smart navigation equipment is the result of a civilian-government project to develop an autonomous sailing system.

A government task force, which was formed in 2000, is slated to conduct a series of tests on the vessel with the aim of achieving a "third level" of autonomous sailing, which can operate a ship by remote control without crewmembers on board.

A Hyundai Mipo Dockyard official voiced hope that the vessel will be able to add momentum to the development of homegrown auto-sailing technologies, thus helping promote the local shipbuilding and maritime shipping industries.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, a subholding company of shipbuilding, oil refining and machinery conglomerate HD Hyundai, has three domestic units under its wing -- HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries. (Yonhap)