Modernizing Maritime Workflows
AI, COBOTS, VIRTUAL REALITY COME TO AMERICA’S SHIPYARDS
BY BRETT DAVIS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
One common image associated with
shipbuilding is that of a welder joining metal in a shower
of sparks. While that still happens, shipbuilders are
adding a plethora of high-tech tools, including virtual
reality and artificial intelligence, to make shipbuilder
faster and more efficient.
Two shipbuilders, Fincantieri and HII, recently
discussed some of their new techniques and
technologies in open forums: Fincantieri at a
Washington, D.C. conference, “Full Speed Ahead: The
U.S. Shipbuilding Renaissance,” and HII as part of the
C3 AI Federal Forum at the Gaylord National Resort
Convention Center in Maryland, where companies
discussed their partnerships with the AI company.
Fincantieri: Going Virtual
George Moutafis, the relatively new CEO of Fincantieri
Marine Group, was among the speakers at the
Washington conference and later spoke with Seapower
about his company’s efforts to modernize shipbuilding.
Italy-based Fincantieri is an international company, the
largest shipbuilder in Europe, but has more than 3,000
employees at its three shipyards in Wisconsin. Moutafis
said the company is developing advanced shipbuilding
technologies overseas and folding them into its work for
the U.S. Navy.
The U.S. shipyards have been working to become more
efficient by sharing production among multiple sites,
and “while we’ve been doing these things here, across
the ocean and everywhere else, Fincantieri has been
developing the next phase, new technology innovation,
the injection of all the cool things you hear about, [and]
how they get integrated within shipbuilding,” he said.
That includes virtual reality, artificial intelligence and
“cobots,” or coworker robots, exoskeletons to help
workers lift heavy weights, and digital shipyards to
monitor progress and track work.
“A whole set of things,” he said. “We’ve been rolling out
all these types of innovations, seeking to build up how
shipbuilding should be done moving forward.”
The company has deployed exoskeletons and cobots,
which are mobile robotic arms, in a limited fashion so
far but eventually plans to roll them out across its entire
operation.
The company uses virtual reality systems intended not
just for engineers but also for workers on the deckplates,
so they can ensure equipment aligns with designs —
using VR goggles, workers are able to visualize systems
before they are in place. Workers can see digital designs
projected onto physical structures, helping identify
potential areas of interference and to verify assembly
lines.
The company is also working on “digital twin” shipyards,
where every aspect of construction is copied virtually to
allow for better production tracking.
One shipyard in Italy is fully digital now, with sensors —
including drones flying overhead — tracking production
and sending the data to a central location, with software
providing suggested actions. This will be rolled out “in
the next two or three years” for the Wisconsin yards,
Moutafis said.
“It’s no longer what our grandfathers recognized as
shipbuilding,” he said. “It is taken to the next level and
has an even further future and won’t stop. It’s exciting.”
HII and AI
At the C3AI panel, a representative of shipbuilding giant
HII detailed how incorporating AI into its workflow is
helping modernize its work and improve efficiency.
Brian Fields, vice president and chief technology officer
at Newport News Shipbuilding, said so far, the work is
proving good for the company and will be good for the
customer, namely the U.S. Navy.
A Newport News Shipbuilding, the company is building
more than 30 different ships with different contracting
vehicles and different timetables. It has 17 different shops
— foundries, machine shops, sheet metal shops, pipe
shops — with 2,300 people doing 5,200 jobs a week, and
each job has 32 different data sources feeding into it. That
is coupled with an “enormous” amount of inexperience
in the workforce, antiquated processes
and a challenged supply chain.
“We do not want to be a technology
company,” Fields said. “I want to
be a technology practitioner. So, we
partnered with C3 to come in and help
us get faster … this is not a C3 project.
This is not being done to us. This is
something we’re doing.”
The company assessed various
potential partners before selecting
C3AI. It began working with them
in mid-June, with funding directly
through the U.S. Navy through the
Maritime Industrial Base program.
“The C3 teams have rolled up their
sleeves, they’ve been in our shops,
they’ve seen the way that we’re working
and they’ve used that to build the tools
and the data we’re starting to receive
from it,” he said. “I’m telling you that
I’ve held almost every job at Newport
News Shipbuilding and I’ve never seen
the speed of results that we’re starting
to see. Within three months, we’re
starting to see output that I didn’t think
was going to be possible. I think we’re
shocked at how fast we’re going.”
In simple terms, the company tells C3AI
its priorities. Using AI tools, C3AI then
tells the company what projects to work
on to meet those goals.
By the end of this year, all the people in
Newport News’ 17 shops will do their
work based on C3AI’s data.
Fincantieri displays a “cobot” robotic arm used at Marinette Marine to help streamline shipbuilding.
Workers use virtual reality goggles to examine aspects of ship design.
“At the end of 2026, all of the people working on all of
our ships will be directed by what AI tells us to do,” Fields
said. “So, we’re jumping into the deep end of the pool.
If we don’t do something rapidly, we are not going to
supply the Navy with the ships they need.”
Aside from a shorter-term fix of antiquated processes
and inefficient workflows, C3AI’s data also helps fill in
the gaps of workforce knowledge, Fields said.
“Our programs last sometimes 15 years,” he said. One
can imagine the amount of turnover, “the knowledge
that comes and goes,” he said, but AI can help retain that
subject matter expertise even as the workforce shifts.
Fields, who has worked at Newport News Shipbuilding
for 36 years, said he wants to incorporate a variety of
new technologies to shipbuilding, from AI to robots and
cobots to advanced manufacturing techniques.
His children work there too, and he said, “I want that
legacy for them. I think it’s achievable.”