KRISO Supports Rebound of Small and Medium Shipbuilders With Eco-friendly Technology

▶ Launching ceremony held in Busan on 30th for the 'Eco-friendly Small and Medium-Sized Ships Technology Capacity Building Project'

▶ Paradigm shift to eco-friendly technology opportunity for rebound of small and medium shipbuilders

□ Korea Research Institue of Ships & Offshore Engineering (President Booki Kim, hereinafter KRISO) announced plans to redouble support for eco-friendly ship technology development to drive a rebound in the domestic small and medium-sized shipbuilding industry. 

□ KRISO announced that it held the launching ceremony for the Eco-friendly Small and Medium-Sized Ships Technology Capacity Building Project and MOU Ceremony for Cooperation Between Large and Medium Shipbuilders on the 30th at the Signiel Hotel in Busan.

□ A total of 100 officials from industry, academia, research, and government agencies including KRISO, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Busan Metropolitan City, Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, three large shipbuilders, four medium-sized shipbuilders, the Korea Offshore and Shipbuilding Association, and the Busan Marine Engineering Industry Association attended the launch ceremony, hoping to build a system of close cooperation to maximize the potential of the project.

□ The Eco-friendly Small and Medium-Sized Ships Technology Capacity Building Project is a project implemented under the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy that aims to advance core technologies and achieve sustainable growth to turn the global paradigm shift towards eco-friendly technologies into opportunity for small and medium shipbuilders.

□ A new Eco-Friendly Ship Design Technology Project Team (hereinafter, Project Team) was launched in KRISO for this project, which will implement the project over a four year period from this year to 2025.

□ Earlier, KRISO conducted the Mid-sized Ship Design Competitiveness Building Project from 2018, through its Mid-size Initial Ship Design Unit. The project yielded great outcomes, contributing to 18 successful shipbuilding orders (total sum 442 Bil. KRW) won over four years. 

□ Building on these outstanding achievements, the Eco-Friendly Ship Design Technology Project Team was created to expand core eco-friendly technologies forming a new technology paradigm to the small and medium-sized shipbuilding sector.

□ In the future, the Project Team will provide customized design engineering services by forming consortiums with small and medium-sized shipbuilders as well as develop advanced standard hull models in future eco-friendly small and medium-sized ships and public vessels for the small and medium shipbuilding industry. The project group has formed 10 consortiums with nine small and medium-sized shipbuilders this year as part of the project.

□ Meanwhile, a MOU Ceremony for Cooperation Between Large and Medium Shipbuilders was also held alongside the launching ceremony that day. Large shipbuilders such as Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and Samsung Heavy Industries joined mid-sized shipbuilders such as Dae Sun Shipbuilding & Engineering, DH Shipbuilding, K Shipbuilding, and HJ Shipbuilding & Construction, research institutes, and the Korea Offshore and Shipbuilding Association at the event, seeking continued growth and stabilization of the small and medium shipbuilding industry by building the technological capacities of small and medium shipbuilders and cooperation with large shipbuilders.

□ Cooperation will be promoted through the transfer or sharing of eco-friendly core technologies (patents) and products by large shipbuilders to medium-sized shipbuilders. 

□ The KRISO Eco-Friendly Ship Design Project Team will focus on continued growth and technological advancement in the small and medium shipbuilding industry by providing design and engineering technology and support for sales and production, expanding its scope from small to mid-sized shipbuilders and design and engineering companies to parts manufacturers, in order to achieve early dominance in the market for eco-friendly ships and old ship replacement.

□ KRISO President Booki Kim said, “The project team will play a growing role in generating a global small shipbuilding industry and accelerating the development of eco-friendly ships by taking initiative in responding to the market for new construction and replacement of small and medium-sized ships through the Eco-friendly Small and Medium-Sized Ships Technology Capacity Building Project.”