Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) has teamed up with Naver Business Platform (NBP) and Intel Korea to develop Smart Ship 4.0 service infrastructure.

The Smart Ship 4.0 is DSME’s wireless computer network and integration system, developed with the aim of boosting vessels’ performance and safety by automating navigation.

Under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), DSME will use Naver’s cloud based platform to build the infrastructure for the Smart Ship 4.0 service and adopt Intel’s Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to the On-Ship IoT System.

With this move, DSME aims to assume leadership on the IoT infrastructure service market by linking with related equipment industries in the future.

Instead of a crew on board, smart ships are envisaged as remotely operated vessels that would have a “virtual captain” in charge of navigating the ships by using a system of advanced technological solutions based on sensor technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) and even Artifical Intelligence (AI).

DSME ‘s Smart 4.0 service is a system that collects real-time or selective data in connection with various IoT technologies and transmits the collected information to the cloud or land control center via the Internet. The ultimate goal is to develop artificial intelligence that can implement not only ship operations but also intelligent maintenance.

This allows ship owners and shipping companies to use system diagnosis to monitor the condition of the ship and its main facilities and decide on their maintenance requirements.