KR announced that on the 3rd (local time), it held a ceremony marking the completion of the "Development of an AI-Technology-Based Solution for Innovating Design and Analysis Work" project with HD Hyundai Samho. (CEO Kim Jaeeul) at Posidonia 2026, currently underway in Athens, Greece. Pursued over roughly one year under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) the two companies signed in June 2025, the project focused on integrating AI into shipbuilding worksites to build a more efficient and precise system for ship design and analysis.

The joint research centered on two core tasks: a solution for optimizing keel-block arrangement and evaluating block strength using an AI analysis model, and a generative-AI-based system for analyzing design documents.

Keel blocks are structures that support the hull and large blocks, and determining their number and placement previously required repetitive structural analysis. The two companies developed an AI model that performs this analysis at a near-real-time level, making it possible to rapidly review various arrangements and derive the optimal configuration.

For the second task, they built a generative-AI-based, domain-specific large language model (LLM) service to manage and use complex shipyard design documents efficiently, developed in an on-premise (closed) environment to meet shipyards' security requirements. This systematizes knowledge assets such as the tacit knowledge and expert know-how accumulated within a shipyard and, by allowing a range of stakeholders to draw on expert-level knowledge, is expected to improve work efficiency and on-site productivity.

Building on this success, KR and HD Hyundai Samho plan to introduce AI in earnest into the design and analysis fields and to expand its application to other areas of work going forward.

Shim Hakmu, Executive Vice President of HD Hyundai Samho, said, "Through this joint research, we have confirmed the potential for AI technology to contribute substantively to innovating shipyard design and analysis work," adding, "We will continue to expand the field-centered application of AI technology, working steadily not only to improve design productivity but also to strengthen our engineers' capabilities and accelerate digital transformation."

KR Executive Vice President Kim Daeheon said, "This joint development project is an important starting point for innovating the traditional, labor-intensive shipyard design and analysis process by applying the latest AI technology," adding, "Beyond classification work, KR will continue to expand its development and support of customer-tailored AI services going forward.