SM Korealine gets self-sailing approval from Panama

SM Korealine Co., a unit of SM Group's maritime division, announced on Monday that its subsidiary Korealine LNG, has obtained approval for self-sailing from Panama, the flag state, for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering ship, the SM Jeju LNG 2.

An LNG bunkering vessel supplies LNG fuel to LNG-powered ships at sea. The SM Jeju LNG 2 is equipped with the Samsung Autonomous Ship (SAS) system developed by Samsung Heavy Industries.

Over the past year, the SM Jeju LNG 2 has been engaged in autonomous navigation trials on the Tongyeong-Jeju route. Based on the navigation trial data, according to SM Korealine, it has become the first vessel in South Korea to receive approval from the flag state.

The ship's development is a result of the joint research agreement titled "Collaborative Research on the Application of Autonomous Navigation Systems for Large- and Medium-sized Ships," signed by KLC SM (a ship management subsidiary of SM Group), Samsung Heavy Industries and the Korean Register in June of last year.

KLC SM and Samsung Heavy plan to establish standards for autonomous navigation safety procedures and crew roles during autonomous navigation based on operational data collected from the pilot ship. Furthermore, they intend to pioneer the autonomous navigation market through system upgrades that can be applied to oceanic and complex coastal navigation.

"This trial marks the opening of a new era of coastal autonomous navigation for large cargo vessels," said Kim Hyun-Jo, Director of the Autonomous Navigation Research Center at Samsung Heavy Industries, and emphasized that the collaboration between Samsung Heavy Industries, the Korean Register, and KLC SM led to this achievement using the company's remote autonomous navigation technology.

"We will actively cooperate in the development of advanced autonomous navigation systems and lead and prepare for the autonomous navigation ship market," commented Kim Man-Tae, CEO of SM Korealine.

Write to Jae-Fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com