Steel is strong. It’s solid and durable, which makes it an exquisite material in manufacturing automobiles and other vehicles. The sustainability of steel is another significant factor that shines a light on the future of transportation.

Worldsteel spotlights the maritime sector — among the many types of vehicles — and demonstrates how steel made a difference. See the details of how the combination of steel and latest technology is paving the future of the industry — POSCO Newsroom presents worldsteel, “Artificial Intelligence, Steel and the Future of Shipping.”

Technology is rapidly transforming operations across all industries — from retail to healthcare to real estate — and the implications of these changes are significant. Developments in road vehicle technologies for cars and trucks seem to hit the headlines constantly. But these aren’t the only type of vehicle with an eye on the future.

Welcome to the age of autonomous shipping — made possible by the powerful combination of artificial intelligence and steel. The maritime sector, like so many others, is experiencing unprecedented disruption. Experts are now in agreement that automation is a necessity if the industry is to stay relevant in the decades ahead.

While modernisation always presents challenges, the opportunities on the horizon for the shipping industry are enormous. If shipping companies can successfully implement fresh solutions based on technologies like artificial intelligence, they will be able to streamline and enhance their operations. The result will be valuable benefits such as cost-savings, better routing, and the ability to identify new business areas.

Tomorrow’s ships will be complex hubs filled with sensors and data-capturing devices with significantly enhanced connectivity capabilities thanks to improvements to satellite technologies. When it comes to the design, building and testing of vessels and their components, cloud technologies will also have a big impact.

Perhaps the most important potential outcomes, however, relate to the environmental impact of shipping. Shipping is already the world’s most energy-efficient means of transport, but there is still work to be done in terms of energy efficiency and carbon footprint. Automation technologies are set to have a notable positive impact on sustainability outcomes for the industry.

For example, more efficient shipping routes which use less fuel or alternative energy sources have the potential to minimise or eliminate carbon emissions entirely. At the same time, making improvements to shipping practices and routes can reduce the number of polluting road vehicles needed to transport cargo once it arrives at a destination — another sustainability win for the sector.

l The Future of Shipping

An example of the future of shipping in action is Yara Birkeland, an autonomous, electric and zero-emissions container vessel from Norway, which is expected to launch in 2020. Within its initial two years, Yara Birkeland will move from manned to autonomous operations, marking a world-first for the sector. The ship will directly replace around 40,000 truck journeys per year, reducing NO_x and CO₂ emissions significantly.

In the Yara Birkeland project and others like it, steel has an important part to play, acting as a key enabler for strides forward in shipping automation and other future-facing technologies. Vessels like the Yara Birkeland make use of steel throughout their designs, including the panelling of the hull, the engines, and on-board solar panel systems.

As autonomous shipping takes off, more and more companies are entering the race and hoping to get in on the action. For example, a “future-proof” ship concept called Electric Blue was revealed by leading brand Rolls-Royce in 2017. It includes steel-built modular components that can easily be replaced or upgraded as necessary in the future, as well as featuring a clean design focused on low building and maintenance costs.

The future of shipping is fast approaching, and it will only continue to gain pace throughout 2020 and beyond. As the technologies powering the world’s most important industries change, steel remains at the heart of helping to create greater business efficiencies, positive sustainability outcomes, and sophisticated, cutting-edge design.

Images: Yara; Rolls Royce Marine, Flickr

The original content published on the worldsteel’s ‘Our Stories’ section is available at: https://stories.worldsteel.org/innovation/artificial-intelligence-steel-and-the-future-of-shipping/

Upon completion, the Green Iris will transport limestones from the port of Donghae in Gangwon-do to Gwangyang Works from the beginning of 2018.

POSCO’s high manganese steel allows the fuel tank to withstand temperatures as low as -196℃, so that it can store and transfer LNG. Moreover, it is highly weldable and cost-efficient compared to other common materials for LNG fuel tanks such as nickel steel or aluminum alloys.

POSCO developed the technology for its high manganese steel after 10 years of research since the late 2000s. Now, it is one of POSCO’s leading World Premium Products (WPP). Due to strengthening environmental regulations worldwide on emissions of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide from vessels, demand for high manganese steel for LNG tanks are expected to increase dramatically.

Cover photo courtesy of Gas Asia Summit.

In our modern fast-paced society, we probably don’t stop to think about how all of the things that are part of our daily lives reach us. Due to the ideas of one man, the world is shrinking as it globalizes. Modern container shipping will celebrate its 60^th anniversary next year. Container ships now carry about 60 percent of the total value the world’s goods shipped by sea.

The History of Containerization 

Though transporting containers has been practiced since 1792, it wasn’t until 1955 that modern containerization was introduced by American entrepreneur, Malcom McLean. (Image: Malcom McLean, http://bit.ly/1TLcMgF)

He came up with the idea that if he was able to drive his truck straight onto the transportation ships with its cargo and drive it off at the destination point. He later realized the process could be much simpler if the containers could be lifted off the trucks and placed on the ships. The process he created is called “inter-modalism” transportation; cargo can be transported in the same container, without being unloaded or reloaded, through the duration of its route, and on different modes of transportation. Thanks to the efficiency of modern containerization, the world is shrinking and human choice is growing. (Video: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-containerization-shaped-the-modern-world)

Since McLean started his shipping business, the technology of shipping containers continues to advance. The third generation of shipping containers for RO-RO ships using non-cassette carrier (NCC) technology lifts steel plates and coils. This technology is improving the efficiency of the shipping process.

The Efficiency of RO-RO Carriers

On July 2, the Gwangyang Frontier, the world’s first NCC concept RO-RO carrier, left the Port of Gwangyang. The Gwangyang Frontier is dedicated to the shipment of steel plates, and delivers only POSCO Steel products. It will drastically reduce logistics costs for POSCO by improving transport efficiency to a much higher level than conventional RO-RO ships currently operate.

The first generation of steel carriers loaded and unloaded steel by using wharf cranes, which was a very time-consuming and complicated process. The second generation of dedicated steel carriers developed the RO-RO concept to load and unload steel coils by cassette and to be carried to the transporters. The second generation RO-RO carriers required large investments in heavy equipment at both loading and unloading ports.

Gwangyang Marine has acquired a third generation carrier which applies the world’s first concept NCC technology, using bundle transport, and specializing in lifting steel plates and coils. It is expected to save annual logistics costs of about 2.5 billion won by reducing the loading and unloading time by half, and is capable of lifting super-wide and super-long cargo. It is expected to have a big impact on conventional ways of transporting steel plates and coils in future for POSCO.