ClassNK awards early stamp of approval to SHI's autonomous navigation software

Japanese classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (better known as ClassNK) has given a technology qualification (TQ) certificate for a component of South Korean shipbuilding giant Samsung Heavy Industries’ (SHI) autonomous navigation solution.

As disclosed, the TQ—which is issued for solutions based on new concepts and designs that existing rules and standards cannot address—validated SHI’s “SAS-IBS”, which is a component of the company’s “Samsung Autonomous Navigation Assistance System (SAS)”. ClassNK had previously issued an approval in principle (AiP) for SAS at the end of October last year.

The technology qualification certificate was reportedly handed over at a maritime and shipbuilding event being held in South Korea.

According to ClassNK, SAS is a system that comprises the functions of situational awareness for recognizing the vessel and its surrounding environment, which, in turn, helps plan actions ahead of time in cases of potential collisions (and grounding avoidance). It is also said to feature vessel track control through an autopilot.

On the other hand, as elaborated, the SAS-IBS is a software that was engineered to examine the risks of collisions and grounding with surrounding ships