HD Hyundai Marine Solution CEO Kim Sung-joon (R) and Weathernews CEO Tomohiro Ishibashi sign an agreement to introduce an AI-powered voyage optimization solution at the head office of Weathernews in Chiba, Japan, on Friday. Photo by HD Hyundai Marine Solution
July 10 (UPI) — South Korea’s HD Hyundai Marine Solution said Friday that the company has teamed up with Japan’s Weathernews to commercialize an AI-powered shipping route optimization solution.
The former is the marine after-sales and digital solutions unit of shipbuilding giant HD Hyundai Group, while the latter is a leading provider of specialized weather intelligence to businesses and other consumers.
Recent pilot projects in South Korea showed that the integrated AI solution incorporating Weathernews’ meteorological data can reduce fuel consumption by at least 3%, according to HD Hyundai Marine.
The corporation noted that the new solution can be immediately deployed on vessels already using either company’s existing services without requiring additional hardware or software.
The two partners plan to gradually roll out the AI-based solution to about 8,000 vessels currently using their services. In addition, they agreed to pursue a range of collaborative initiatives, including jointly marketing the solution to global clients.
“This agreement is significant because it transforms our collaboration into a viable commercial business model,” HD Hyundai Marine CEO Kim Sung-joon said in a statement.
“We will deliver the best solution available to help shipowners achieve two key objectives of reducing fuel costs and complying with increasingly stringent environmental regulations,” he added.
The share price of HD Hyundai Marine jumped 4.17% on the Seoul bourse on Friday while the benchmark KOSPI rose 2.52%. That of Weathernews fell 4.26% on the Japanese stock market.