HD Hyundai Becomes First Yard Ever to Build 5,000 Ships

Welding robots at work on a panel at HD Hyundai (HD Hyundai)

HD Hyundai has passed a major milestone with the delivery of its 5,000th ship, making it the most prolific shipbuilder in history - all in just 50 years.

The total count came mostly from HD Hyundai's main yard (HHI), but HD Hyundai Mipo and HD Hyundai Samho together account for a bit less than half. Stacked bow-to-stern, the line of HD Hyundai's delivered ships would extend from Seoul all the way to Tokyo, the yard said.

"Our 5,000-vessel milestone represents the pride of Korea’s shipbuilding industry and the history of bold challenges that have reshaped the global maritime paradigm," said Chung Kisun, HD Hyundai's Chairman, in a statement.

The 5,000th vessel is a patrol ship, the Diego Silang, built and delivered for the Philippine Navy. The vessel has a range of 4,500 nautical miles and will be useful for monitoring the archipelago's far-flung waters; it is one of ten vessels the Philippine government has recently ordered from HD Hyundai.

China is now by far the most prolific shipbuilding nation, and state-owned CSSC has become the world's biggest shipbuilding group by deadweight. But HD Hyundai wants to keep the momentum going for its next 5,000 hulls, and is putting more investment into advanced technologies. On Thursday, the yard announced an agreement with the Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST) to move ahead with integration of AI with the shipbuilding industry. The objective is to build an "AI foundation model" for shipbuilding and maritime.

The firm has also moved responsibility for management of AI research activities directly under the office of KSOE's CEO. These operations were previously housed in KSOE's technology research institute, but are being combined and placed under the control of Kim Hyung-kwan.

Among other use cases for the technology, HD Hyundai plans to implement AI in its design process with next-gen CAD tools. AI CAD is making inroads in industry already, including in shipbuilding, and it promises to increase speed and efficiency in the drafting shop. Each business area has different uses for AI, hence the need to centralize control of implementation, the firm said.

"AI is a core technology and game changer that will fundamentally change the future manufacturing industry, and it has already begun to dominate the overall management of companies," the company said in a statement.