DNV and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore strategic collaboration on Software Defined Vessel technologies and the verification and assurance frameworks that will surround them, sources indicated on 14 September 2026.
The agreement brings together HD KSOE’s programme of work on SDV technologies and digital ship systems with DNV’s long-standing role in independent assurance and verification. The memorandum is described as an exploratory step to align technological development with assurance practices rather than a commitment to a specific product or regulatory change.
Both parties, according to the report, will consider how to combine capabilities so that vessel design, onboard software, and verification regimes can be developed in a coordinated way. The emphasis in the announcement is on collaboration to understand technical, procedural and testing needs for software-centric ship systems.
What Software Defined Vessels imply
Software Defined Vessel technologies place software and digital systems at the core of vessel capability, shaping how navigation, propulsion and other functions are managed by developers and shipbuilders. HD KSOE’s involvement in digital ship systems places the company among builders and designers working to integrate those software layers into new ship designs.
DNV’s stated contribution in the memorandum is its independent assurance and verification expertise, which the report links to the need for robust checks and validation when software assumes operational roles. Independent verification typically looks to confirm that systems perform as intended and comply with agreed standards and safety expectations.
The memorandum therefore seeks to bridge those two strands: the engineering and shipbuilding workstream led by HD KSOE and the assurance and verification processes that DNV can apply. The goal set out in the announcement is an exploratory alignment of capability, methods and likely assurance requirements.
The place of assurance frameworks
Assurance frameworks for software-centric vessels address how systems are tested, how software updates are managed and how responsibilities are defined between shipowners, builders and suppliers. The report frames the collaboration as a means to develop approaches that can be applied during design, construction and the operational life of digital ship systems.
By focusing on verification and assurance, the two organisations aim to examine how independent evaluation can be structured alongside rapid software development cycles. The memorandum suggests an intent to look at verification methods that keep pace with digital development without compromising on safety or compliance.
reports’s account stresses the exploratory nature of the MOU rather than concrete technical deliverables or timelines. The statement places the partnership within the evolving landscape of ship digitalisation, where builders, classification societies and technology providers increasingly intersect around common technical and regulatory questions.
The memorandum between DNV and HD KSOE is the latest high-level collaboration reported between classification and assurance bodies and major shipbuilders on digital and software-led technologies. It signals that both parties intend to invest time in mapping how SDV technologies and assurance regimes can be coordinated, while leaving options open for how any joint work might later be implemented.
Further details of specific projects, milestones or the precise scope of joint work were not part of the published report. For now, the announcement stands as an agreement to explore cooperative steps that could inform future verification approaches for software-defined capabilities in newbuild and retrofit contexts.