"A weapon on the sea" will get rid of the ship's bloodline...Automatically 'attach' to the port.

[Anchor]
The ship needed people to pull and tie the rope to anchor at the port. As a result, there were many cases that led to casualties.

Technology that can be automatically docked without people has been developed and is attracting attention.

I'm reporter Jang A-young.

[Reporter]
The ferry accident that turned the welcoming ceremony of Choi Young's port into a sea of tears after returning from the dispatch of troops to the Gulf of Aden in 2019.

One soldier was killed and four others were injured when the line connecting the pier to the ship was broken.

In January, a 1.5-ton truck that was clearing the ship's rope in Busan was pulled into the sea with a worker, killing one person.

In order to hold the vessel to the port, the operator must pull and secure the rope himself, which requires at least five people on board.

The bigger the ship, the stronger the tension, so there are many cases where the rope made of synthetic fiber is broken or the iron wire is worn out, leading to major accidents.

Technology has been developed to prevent such accidents.

Korean researchers have created an "automatic mooring system" that automatically fixes ships to ports.

When the ship approaches the port, the vacuum adsorption pad protrudes, fixes it, and pulls it to the hydraulic device.

It can be pulled and docked with a force of 200kN tons per unit, so if it's a 6,000-ton Hanbada, you need three.

For larger container ships, you just need to increase the number of machines.

[Kim Yong-jin / Lead researcher of Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials: Existing manual ship wiring requires unnecessary personnel to be on board the ship, and in the event of an accident, serious casualties are caused. / Automatic mooring systems are essential technologies that can advance the era of autonomous ships….]

This study, which started with the goal of commercialization from the beginning, plans to verify its final performance through the Hanbada next year.

I'm YTN's Jang Ayoung.