Advancement for Autonomous Operations on Deep-Sea Ships

new containership steep forward in autonomous operations for deep sea ships — Ever Forward incorporates the latest digitization technologies - image courtesy of LR

The shipping industry continues to work towards new applications of autonomous operations with the latest advancements of the technology being demonstrated on a deep-sea vessel. Built by Samsung Heavy Industries for Evergreen Marine Corp., the new ultra-large container ship was awarded a Digital Safe Security certification by LR.

The 135,000 DWT Ever Forward has a length of 1,096 feet and a design speed of 23 knots. The vessel has a 159-foot beam and a full-load draft of 51 feet. It can carry 19 rows of containers on deck with a total carrying capacity of 12,000 TEU. Registered in Hong Kong, the vessel was delivered on September 28 and arrived today anchored off Kaohsiung, Taiwan to prepare for its entry into service.

SHI used its smart ship solution, SVESSEL, to develop the digital ship system onboard the Ever Forward. This solution provides operators and shore-based staff with instant access to operating data from onboard systems for monitoring and diagnostics through the cloud, which they can use to make more informed operational decisions and respond to issues faster and more efficiently.

“We are delighted to support Evergreen with our latest smart ship solution, SVESSEL which has been developed with the advances in information and communication technologies aiming to complete digitalization of a ship and its applications to efficiently and safely assist operation,” said Yong-Lae Shim, Vice President of SHI Ship and Offshore Research Institute. “We believe digital transformation will revolutionize the maritime transportation industry and drive economic value for all stakeholders, including ship owners and operators.”

Evergreen began taking delivery on the F Class vessels in March 2020 - image courtesy of Evergreen Marine

The Ever Forward was built to class in line with LR Digital Ship notations with elements of SVESSEL certified against LR’s Digital Safe Security notation, demonstrating that access for autonomous and remote monitoring of the ship’s systems has been provided and assessed. LR also provided independent assurance services to Evergreen and SHI, applying the Digital Ship descriptive notation to the vessel in recognition of the work and certifying the digital ship system as safe.

“By working closely with Evergreen and Samsung Heavy Industries, we were successful in assessing the system’s functionality through LR’s Digital Safety Security notation. We are excited to see digital ship technologies grow and comprise more and more functions and reach higher levels of autonomy, helped by LR's Digital Ships procedures that enable digital systems to be installed safely and fully functional as intended,” said Young-Doo Kim, LR’s North East Asia TSO Manager.

The Ever Forward is part of Evergreen Marine’s new F Class vessels that are being introduced as replacements for older ships. The first of the class was delivered in March of this year and they are designed to meet the needs of the North American market. In addition to expanding capacity for the tight markets, Evergreen says that the dimensions of these ships make them more flexible than the super large ships on the major European and Asian routes. They are also more flexible in port and berthing operations than the larger ships.