How South Korean and Japanese Shipbuilders Are Using Robots

Robots are moving into welding, painting and other shipyard tasks in South Korea and Japan as builders look for ways to manage labor shortages, large backlogs and competition from lower-cost Chinese yards. The goal is a more automated “smart shipyard,” but current deployments and company targets do not mean that skilled workers can simply be replaced. 1838

Orders and output measure different things

Clarksons figures cited in 2026 reporting put Chinese shipyards’ share of global new ship orders at 63% in 2025. That is a measure of orders won—not ships completed or the amount of vessel output. 18

One report says South Korea and Japan together represented 40% of worldwide vessel production, but its summary does not specify the output measure or provide separate country shares. 4 A separate source puts South Korea at about 27% of global ship completions by compensated gross tonnage in 2024; that figure uses a defined measure and year, but it does not provide Japan’s share. 41 These figures should not be treated as directly comparable with China’s order share.

The distinction matters: orders indicate demand secured for future construction, while completion and output figures describe delivered work. The available figures give context for the competitive pressure, but they do not support a like-for-like comparison across all three countries.

Where shipyard robots are being used

HD Hyundai: robotic welding and AI-led production

HD Hyundai is using robots for welding and developing a broader smart-shipyard approach that draws on AI, data and digital-twin technology. At HD Hyundai Samho, a reported robot can complete up to 50 welding cells in a day, compared with up to 30 for a skilled worker. That is roughly 67% more cells in this reported task—not a 67% increase in total shipyard or whole-ship productivity. 30

The company’s wider automation plans are ambitions rather than measured results. HD Hyundai has said it aims to automate some production lines and establish a small “dark factory” by 2030. 18

Hanwha Ocean: expanding welding automation

Hanwha Ocean says AI and automation are used in about 67% of indoor welding at its Geoje yard. Its 2030 targets include full automation of the specified welding processes and robotic handling of 50% of surface preparation and painting. These targets do not mean that the entire yard—or all welding in every environment—is automated. 920

Fanuc: shipbuilding-specific welding and painting robots

Fanuc has developed two robots specifically for shipbuilding tasks: welding and painting. The company has described an ambition to deploy robots on a scale comparable to Japan’s roughly 75,000 shipbuilding workers, with the aim of enabling more overnight work. That is an aspiration, not a reported deployment count or a verified productivity gain. 18

Why automation is difficult—and contested

Ships are not uniform products rolling down a standard factory line. Different designs and cramped, irregular workspaces make it difficult to automate every operation; complex tasks still require skilled human work. Reporting also says Chinese shipbuilders have moved more aggressively in deploying welding robots and smart systems, adding to the competitive challenge for Japanese and South Korean yards. 1838

Investment is another hurdle. Reporting describes shipyard automation as costly, but the available evidence does not establish a dependable cost figure for these rollouts. 2829 Workers’ concerns are also real: South Korea’s metalworkers’ union has raised job security as companies adopt AI and robots. 1

For now, the clearest case for shipyard robotics is targeted assistance with specific tasks, alongside plans for wider automation. The reported welding-cell comparison is task-specific, and the 2030 announcements remain targets. Whether smart yards can deliver broader productivity gains while retaining skilled workers will depend on solving technical, financial and workforce challenges.