Samsung Heavy Industries said on the 1st that it opened the Samsung Remote Operation Center (SROC) at container carrier Evergreen's headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan. It is the first case of a shipbuilder and a shipping company collaborating to establish such a center.
SROC is a land-based control tower that checks vessel information and the status of key equipment in real time, enabling efficient inspections and maintenance. Samsung Heavy Industries said the collaboration is the result of advances in cutting-edge smart-ship operations and remote autonomous navigation technologies, as well as the outcome of the two companies' long-running partnership. Evergreen plans to gradually increase the number of ships that can be linked with SROC.
This year, Samsung Heavy Industries installed an autonomous navigation system on Evergreen's 15,000-TEU (1 TEU equals one 20-foot container) container ship and conducted function tests of real-time ship automation systems, condition-based maintenance, and ship video information–based remote monitoring support technologies on the 10,000-kilometer route between Oakland, U.S., and Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
The two companies agreed to use the launch of SROC as a starting point to expand technology development, including in remote periodic inspections, to prepare for the era of remotely operated autonomous vessels.
John Choe, head of the Autonomous Navigation Research Center at Samsung Heavy Industries, said, "The launch of SROC will serve as a 'second bridge' that supports safe navigation and emergency response during ships' digital transformation," and added, "We hope this will contribute to Korea's leadership in remote autonomous navigation technologies for K-shipbuilding and to the establishment of international standards."