Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries' Ship & Offshore Plant Research Institute reduces costs by 90% through development of ship safety technology

The boat that had crashed in the open sea began to fill with water.

How quickly can the passengers and crew get out?

If you can delay the sinking or capsizing of a ship even just a little, the time available to escape increases accordingly.

For this purpose, the technology that creates additional buoyancy for ships is the ‘Ship Buoyancy Assistance System’.

The principle is to expand the buoyancy auxiliary installed inside the ship to secure additional buoyancy and delay sinking or capsizing as much as possible.

Previously, a method of installing a separate filler tank on board the ship and expanding the filler when an accident occurred was used.

However, there were limitations in that installation and maintenance costs were high and it was difficult to install in complex spaces onboard ships.

The Korea Ship & Offshore Research Institute (KRISO) developed a buoyancy assistance system that compensates for these limitations.

This is a method of constructing a buoyancy auxiliary body in three dimensions according to the internal structure of the ship using 3D laser scanning.

Thanks to this, it can be installed and operated even in complex spaces such as engine rooms where various types of equipment are intertwined.

Another feature is that the fixed fire extinguishing pipe installed on most ships is used as a device to add gas to the buoyancy auxiliary body.

It is estimated that costs can be reduced by more than 90% compared to existing buoyancy assistance systems while minimizing separate equipment.

The research institute transferred 7 patents related to this technology to 5 companies for free use, which also led to actual commercialization.

The research institute is an affiliated institution of the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), which conducts research from original technology development to application and commercialization in the field of ships and offshore plants.

Since the technology developed by the research institute is used in the sea where various environmental variables such as waves, wind, and currents exist, it is important to verify whether it works properly in the real environment.

To this end, we are equipped with a variety of research facilities that can reproduce the actual marine environment or test the performance of ships and marine structures in extreme environments.

Representative large-scale research facilities are the ice tank and deep-sea engineering tank.

The ice water tank in Daejeon is a rare research facility that not many have in the world.

Using model ice that reproduces the characteristics of actual polar ice in a reduced scale, various polar ice sheet environments such as flat ice and drift ice are realized, and the performance of polar operating ships and marine structures is tested within it.

The deep-sea engineering tank in Busan is the world's largest large-scale aquarium with a length of 100 m, a width of 50 m, and a water depth of 15 m, and a 50 m deep deep-sea pit is installed in the center that can create a deep-sea environment up to 3,000 m deep.

It simulates various environments of the actual sea, such as waves, wind, and currents, and comprehensively evaluates the various performances of ships and marine structures using scale models.

The technology created in the laboratory is also leading to safety devices that protect human life in the actual sea.

The research institute developed an AI-based damage control support system that simulates the location of the accident, smoke spread, and dangerous areas when an accident such as a fire occurs and guides the crew on the necessary response procedures.

In addition, we are developing digital maritime traffic control technology with the Coast Guard that shares dangerous situations identified by air traffic controllers and information necessary for ship operation with ships in real time.

There are also technologies that reduce ships' fuel costs and carbon emissions while contributing to protecting the marine environment.

Vortex generator (K-V.G) is a technology that improves the flow of water flowing into the propeller by attaching a small plate-shaped device to the ship hull.

In this case, it is possible to achieve the effect of reducing underwater radiation noise and hull vibration by reducing fuel consumption and at the same time reducing the occurrence of cavitation.

The structure is simple and the installation cost is relatively low, making it easy to apply not only to new ships but also to ships already in operation.

An official from the research institute said, “This is a technology that has proven its performance on various ships at home and abroad, and we expect related demand to increase by reducing not only fuel costs and carbon emissions, but also underwater radiation noise.”

As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology is rapidly increasing in the maritime industry, the research institute is also pursuing various research, including developing related technologies that reflect the characteristics of the maritime field.

Currently, the interactive maritime service platform that provides information desired by users based on marine data has secured an initial model that actually operates.

If a user requests a comparison of wave power generation candidate areas on Jeju Island, appropriate models and tools are selected and utilized to present power generation volume and power generation unit price.

In addition, we are developing technology for unmanned vehicles to recognize and judge the surrounding underwater environment using various sensors to move optimally.

Currently, we are in the stage of designing and developing algorithms to implement the movement of unmanned vehicles.

An official from the research institute said, "We plan to develop and pilot various services and advance them step by step through industrial field application and verification."