DNV issues first Type Approval for a mass-produced multi-vessel autonomous navigation system — Avikus HiNAS Control — removing per-vessel verification requirements

Headline Finding

DNV has issued Type Approval for Avikus’s HiNAS Control autonomous navigation support system — described as the first time a mass-produced autonomous navigation system designed for multiple vessel types has received such recognition. Previously, Avikus systems were certified on a ship-by-ship or project-by-project basis; Type Approval removes the requirement for additional per-installation verification, directly accelerating deployment efficiency. The development, the product of three years of joint work between Avikus (the autonomous navigation subsidiary of HD Hyundai) and DNV to define safety requirements and a verification framework, is a significant move of the legitimacy lever: a major classification society has formally validated a scalable, multi-vessel autonomous system, signalling to global shipowners that the technology has crossed a commercialisation threshold.

Detail

Avikus, the autonomous navigation subsidiary of HD Hyundai (South Korea), spent three years working with Norway’s DNV to define the safety requirements for its autonomous navigation support system and to establish the verification framework. The result is DNV’s issuance of Type Approval for the Avikus Autonomous Navigation Support System, HiNAS Control.

Avikus characterises this as the first time a mass-produced autonomous navigation system designed for multiple vessel types has gained such recognition. The distinction from prior certifications is explicit: previously, Avikus says the systems were specific to the ship or the individual project. Type Approval means HiNAS Control can now be installed across vessel types without additional verification for each installation, which Avikus says will improve deployment efficiency. The company also states it hopes the approval will enhance confidence among global shipowners.

Avikus reports it is stepping up efforts to commercialise its vessel autonomy technologies following this milestone, suggesting the Type Approval is intended as a market-scaling instrument rather than a one-off certification event.

Governance Implication

1. The legitimacy lever has been moved: DNV’s Type Approval converts a project-specific technology into a scalable, classification-body-endorsed product. This is a formal legitimacy signal to global shipowners and port authorities that autonomous navigation has crossed from demonstration into commercialisation — accelerating the deployment clock.
2. The shift from per-vessel to type-level certification is a structural change in the governance architecture for maritime autonomy: it removes a friction point that previously constrained rollout velocity, meaning the pace of autonomous vessel deployment can now accelerate without a corresponding increase in regulatory scrutiny per installation.
3. The three-year Avikus–DNV collaboration to define safety requirements and a verification framework is a model of private standard-setting filling the gap left by the absence of fully established international standards — a pattern that raises questions about who sets the terms of legitimacy and whether public port and coastal authorities have input into those terms.
4. For cities and port authorities, the commercialisation push by Avikus following Type Approval means autonomous vessels designed for multiple vessel types may arrive at their infrastructure sooner than governance frameworks anticipate, making the pacing problem acute at the port and coastal-management level.

Sources

https://maritime-executive.com/article/japan-and-south-korea-advance-autonomous-navigation https://www.dnv.com/news/dnv-grants-type-approval-to-avikus-autonomous-navigation-support-system/ https://avikus.ai