HD Hyundai and KR launch 3D ship design approval system in Ulsan

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and classification society Korean Register began joint technical work Sept. 21 to establish a three-dimensional digital approval process for commercial ship structural design.

The project establishes a direct review system for ship classification. It allows marine surveyors to audit native 3D computer models rather than flattened paper blueprints.

Neither organization published a capital expenditure budget for the project. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries operates nine drydocks in Ulsan and accounts for roughly 15% of global shipbuilding output by volume.

Shipbuilders currently construct commercial vessels using advanced 3D computer-aided design software. Maritime safety regulations still require shipyards to convert those 3D structural datasets into 2D engineering sheets for plan approval.

That translation creates duplicate administrative labor for shipyard drafting departments. Converting complex curved hull forms into flat drawings introduces drafting backlogs and increases the probability of human transcription errors.

The joint initiative will replace paper submissions with direct digital model exchange. The partners call the technical framework 3D Model-Based Approval, or 3DMBA.

Under the agreement, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will supply 3D structural design models and engineering datasets from active vessel construction projects. The shipbuilder will also host pilot verification exercises at its Ulsan yard.

Korean Register will define the technical scope, inspection items and structural criteria required for digital approval. The classification society will also develop a dedicated digital software environment to audit structural rule compliance.

The technical protocols will incorporate feedback from shipyard engineers throughout the live testing cycle. Both parties intend to refine the software workflow before applying it across broader commercial shipbuilding contracts.

Modern 3D models have already become the standard baseline across yard engineering units, Ryu Hong-ryeol, vice president of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, said. The current regulatory framework still requires separate drawing generation, he said.

The joint development program marks the beginning of an environment where engineering data feeds directly into regulatory approvals, Ryu said. The change will remove duplicate drafting across active project teams, he said.

Transferring the baseline of structural plan approval from 2D blueprints to 3D digital models represents a major change for marine classification, Kim Dae-heon, executive vice president of Korean Register, said.

The classification society aims to build an approval process using actual production data to lift engineering efficiency across both shipyards and regulatory bodies, Kim said.

The technical collaboration originated from a memorandum of understanding signed Sept. 15 at the Gastech 2026 conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Korean Register formally released details of the pact Sept. 16 before joint development began.

Classification societies verify structural integrity by checking steel plate thickness, longitudinal framing and stress distribution against harmonized Common Structural Rules. That process traditionally requires dozens of distinct 2D structural arrangement drawings for every hull module.

Compressing drawing approval schedules has become critical as South Korean yards manage four-year order backlogs dominated by complex liquefied natural gas carriers and alternative-fuel container vessels.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has sought to shorten production cycles across its Ulsan facilities by expanding digital manufacturing under its shipyard modernization program.

Korean Register has previously developed direct data interfaces between commercial structural design programs such as NAPA Steel and its proprietary SeaTrust-HullScan engineering assessment tool.

The new system expands that technical capability by formalizing regulatory acceptance of native 3D geometry rather than using digital files solely as an internal calculating tool.

The companies agreed to begin pilot verification on active vessel projects immediately following the Bangkok signing. They plan to expand the workflow to gas carriers and container vessels after proving structural accuracy.

The announcement does not state the development budget, software integration platforms or the specific hull number assigned for the initial pilot run.