LAS VEGAS -- Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering on Friday signed a partnership with the American Bureau of Shipping to accelerate the development of unmanned large ships.

“The cooperation with the ABS will be a great help for HD Hyundai to lead the development and commercialization of autonomous navigation,” said Kim Sung-joon, head of KSOE’s future technology research center.

KSOE, the world’s largest shipbuilder and a sub-holding company of HD Hyundai, said the company plans to test its machinery automation system HiCBM and onboard integrated safety control system HiCAMS on a ship for the first time in the world by 2024.

The agreement signing took place on the sidelines of CES 2023, the world’s largest tech convention, in Las Vegas. The ABS is a maritime classification society that provides classification services to the marine, offshore and gas industries across the world.

HiCBM can self-check the status of a ship’s machinery such as the engine and power generator. HiCAMS is designed to detect emergencies, such as a fire, and respond to them automatically on a ship. They are both artificial intelligence-based solutions.

According to HD Hyundai, KSOE obtained approval for the two systems from the ABS in September. HD Hyundai’s subsidiary Avikus completed the world’s first autonomous navigation for a large ship across the ocean in June last year. With that, the shipbuilder said if the test for HiCBM and HiCAMS is successful, it will mark the world’s first self-sailing of a large ship without any crew’s help.