South Korea's Daewoo & SKT in 'Smart Ship' R&D Project

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), the world's second-largest shipbuilder, and Korea's top mobile carrier, SK Telecom (SKT), have teamed up to develop ICT-based "smart ships" reports the Korea Times.

SKT has signed a memorandum of understanding with DSME to cooperate in a research and development (R&D) venture to build the high-tech, next-generation ships.

The vessel will be equipped with a global telecommunication network based on navigation and monitoring systems, while all the on-board services will be converged onto a single network.

Under the alliance, SKT will provide ICT guidelines, optimized blueprints and R&D resources, while DSME will share the needs of ship owners and smart ship-related research achievements. Their main task will be building a multi-connected system in areas of ship-monitoring, automation and unmanned services, as well as safety and security.