World’s first smart ship developed and built in China

The world’s first smart ship, developed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corp, has started its first trial voyage in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, according to the State-owned shipbuilder.

The 38,800-metric ton bulk carrier, named Great Smart, started a weeklong trial on Oct 31 off Guangzhou and will be delivered at the end of this year to an unidentified lessee, CSSC said in a statement.

It was designed primarily by Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute and built by Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding Co in Guangzhou. The two entities are subsidiaries of CSSC.

The ship is a modified version of the Green Dolphin fuel-efficient bulk carrier concept. The company calls it the world’s first smart ship because it is the first seafaring vehicle awarded the ‘cybersafe’, ‘cyber-perform’ and ‘cyber-maintain’ smart-vessel notations by the British maritime classification society Lloyd’s Register, one of the top maritime technical standards services.

Great Smart also has the ‘intelligent ship’ notation from China Classification Society, according to CSSC.

Three ships built by South Korean shipyard Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction have been certified with the ‘cyber-safe’ notation by Lloyd’s Register but cannot be considered smart ships, said Gu Yiqing, a chief designer of smart ships at the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute.

Gu said Great Smart has a set of integrated information systems capable of autonomously monitoring, recording and analyzing the conditions and operations of major equipment such as engines and propeller shafts. The data reduces the crew’s workload, improves efficiency and avoids misjudgments, she said.
Source: The Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China