Samsung Heavy Industries, a major South Korean shipbuilder, said Friday it will pursue broad cooperation with the U.S. shipbuilding industry through a series of agreements spanning LNG bunkering, autonomous maritime technologies and workforce training.
The company participated in the opening ceremony of the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Center, held on July 23 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., where it signed a series of agreements to strengthen its U.S. business.
Senior officials and industry leaders from the two countries took part in the event marking the opening of the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Center.
Samsung Heavy Industries and Conrad Shipyard obtained approval in principle from the American Bureau of Shipping for the basic design of a 12,000-cbm LNG bunkering articulated tug and barge currently under joint development.
The approval marks the latest achievement since the two companies established a partnership in December to jointly build LNG bunkering vessels, Samsung Heavy Industries said.
Samsung Heavy Industries also signed a memorandum of understanding with Saronic Technologies, a company in autonomous surface vessel production, to establish a strategic business partnership.
Under the MoU, the two companies will explore advanced development of autonomy and AI-powered digital solutions while also cooperating on the establishment of production infrastructure, including robotics-based process automation.
The companies unveiled the partnership at the launch of the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Center (KUSPC), a new organization designed to deepen shipbuilding cooperation between the two allied nations.
Vigor Marine Group (VMG) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) also announced their intent to develop an advanced training center focused on maritime trades in the Pacific Northwest.
According to VMG, the joint development agreement between the two companies calls for the “establishment and infrastructure development of the training center,” as well as collaboration on curriculum, innovative technology and marketing.
The training center will help secure skilled welding and painting personnel essential for shipbuilding and ship repair operations, SHI said.
