Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world’s biggest shipbuilder, announced today that it jointly developed the “Sea Weather Forecasting System” with Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST).

The system will enable HHI to manage sea trial schedules of ships it builds at its Ulsan yard 72 hours in advance by analyzing sea weather information such as wave height, wind speed and current patterns on an hourly basis in seven offshore areas including Ulsan, Gunsan, and Jeju Island.

The weather system is also expected to minimize any possible delay in lifting work of the floating crane due to unexpected weather conditions through precision forecasting of the sea weather by every 60 meter in Mipo Bay and Jeonha Bay where HHI is based. The geographic information system (GIS)–based system can also display sea weather information on the specific spots on an electronic navigational chart.

An HHI official said, “The weather forecasting system we developed is linked to 530 weather observation equipment across the nation and it can forecast 10 percent more precisely than other existing weather systems by analysing adjacent sea topography 16 times more accurately.”

Since 2006, HHI has been operating “Weather Management” by installing weather observation equipment at 18 spots at its Ulsan yard to monitor the weather on a 24-hour basis, and reporting the weather analysis to its employees.