Korean shipbuilders race to master Arctic ice-navigation technology

Korea’s first Arctic trial voyage is underway. Now the country’s shipbuilders are racing to develop the maritime technology that may one day make the route routine.

The PanStar Acro, which set out on Korea’s first trial voyage along the Arctic shipping route on Aug. 22, is expected to arrive in Busan in mid-October. The vessel sailed through Arctic waters and stopped at ports in Britain, the Netherlands and Poland.

Earlier this month, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries, along with Korean Register, joined Inha University to develop core technology for ships operating in polar waters.

The biggest challenge for Arctic ships — namely icebreakers — is that they must withstand the forces exerted on their hulls as they push through and break floating or level ice. The joint project will develop a system that can quickly calculate those forces in real time and determine whether a vessel can safely withstand them — effectively serving as a decision-making system for ships navigating ice-covered waters.

The three shipbuilders will provide funding and data collected from actual vessels, and a research team led by Prof. Kim Yoo-il, a professor of naval architecture and ocean engineering at Inha University, will conduct the research.

“This research can be used both when designing a ship and when the ship is actually operating,” Prof. Kim told JoongAng Ilbo.

The technology could help ship designers determine which hull shapes encounter less resistance from ice and how much structural reinforcement and propulsion power a vessel needs. At sea, the system could assess the thickness and condition of ice ahead of a ship and help decide in real time whether the vessel should push through or change course.

“Technology for analyzing ice loads already exists, but the calculations take a long time,” Prof. Kim said. “The significance of this project is that the technology will be turned into a real-time simulator that can support decisions during actual voyages.”

The three shipbuilders are seeking to develop the technology domestically as demand for polar vessels is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.

The global icebreaker market will grow from $1.54 billion in 2026 to $2.19 billion in 2033, an average annual growth rate of 5.1 percent, according to a report by Coherent Market Insights.

A fully operational Arctic shipping route could create a much larger market for commercial vessels capable of navigating polar waters, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, oil tankers and container ships.

The number of ships operating in Arctic waters grew 40 percent from 1,298 in 2013 to 1,812 in 2025, according to the Arctic Council. Fishing vessels remain the largest group, at 587 ships, but commercial vessels have increased rapidly. The number of gas carriers increased from one to 40, while the number of crude oil tankers increased from 17 to 48.

The trend could create new demand in the Arctic for the high-value ships in which Korean shipbuilders already hold a strong position.

Korean shipyards have experience building commercial vessels for polar navigation and have recently expanded into the icebreaker market.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries won an order in April to build an icebreaker for the Swedish Maritime Administration. The company beat competitors from Finland and Norway to secure the contract — the first overseas order for a dedicated icebreaker won by a Korean shipyard.

Hanwha Ocean has experience building icebreaking LNG carriers. The shipbuilder is also constructing a next-generation icebreaking research vessel more than twice the size of the Araon, Korea’s first research icebreaker.

Interest in the Arctic route has grown as conflict in the Middle East threatens established shipping lanes, but questions remain over whether the route will be commercially viable.

“The Arctic route can significantly shorten the distance to Europe, but ships can only use the route during the summer,” an industry source said. “Insurance premiums and transit fees are expensive, and there is also a risk that the route could be closed depending on relations between the West and Russia.”

Still, those commercial uncertainties have not stopped the industry from preparing for a larger Arctic market.

“Economic viability and other factors will matter more than technological barriers when it comes to developing the Arctic route,” Prof. Kim said. “But the industry also needs to be technologically prepared for the market to open.”

BY NAM YOON-SEO [[email protected]]