A Hyundai equipped 122,000 tonne LNG carrier, the PRISM COURAGE, has become the first large ship to complete a transoceanic voyage using autonomous navigation. The 180,000 square metre ultra-large LNG carrier sailed 12,425 miles (approximately 20,000 kilometres) sailed from Freeport on the Atlantic seaboard of Mexico, through the Panama Canal, arriving at the Boryeong LNG Terminal in South Chungcheong Province in Korea.

The ship departed Mexico on May 1st and took 33 days to reach port in Korea.

According to HD Hyundai subsidiary Avikus, the PRISM COURAGE is the first large ship in the world to complete autonomous navigation of an ocean crossing.

The PRISM COURAGE, operated by SK Shipping, is equipped with the Avikus HiNAS 2.0, a Level 2 autonomous navigation system.

HiNAS 2.0 creates optimal routes and speeds based on Hyundai Global Service’s Integrated Smartship Solution. Its artificial intelligence recognises the surrounding environment – weather and wave heights – and nearby ships, and then controls the vessel’s steering commands in real-time. The Level 2 technology can control and operate the ship in addition to the functions of recognition and judgement.

In this test crossing, the PRISM COURAGE equipped with HiNAS 2.0 was operated autonomously on the optimal routes, increasing the fuel efficiency by around 7 percent while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 5 percent. Also, the system accurately recognised the locations of nearby ships to avoid collision about 100 times.

The voyage was conducted under real-time monitoring of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and the Korea Register of Shipping to verify the performance and stability of the technology. Avikus plans to commercialise HiNAS 2.0 within this year after receiving a certification from ABS for the results of this self-propelled ocean crossing.

Avikus CEO Do-hyeong Lim said, “It is meaningful to we successfully tested the Level 2 system. We will lead innovation by upgrading autonomous navigation solutions not only for large merchant ships but also for small leisure boats.”