Midsized shipyard K Shipbuilding Co., formerly known as STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co., said Wednesday it has signed a preliminary deal with Kongsberg Digital AS to cooperate on digital technologies for smart ships.

Under the deal with the Norwegian company that has technologies for autonomous ships, K Shipbuilding will narrow the technology gap with large shipbuilders in the area of smart ships, the company said.

K Shipbuilding also showed its autonomous navigation system called K-ADIS or K Shipbuilding Advanced Intelligent Solution at the ceremony for the deal.

STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co.'s creditors led by the state-run Korea Development Bank finalized the sale of the shipbuilder to a local consortium comprising local private equity fund KH Investment and United Asset Management Co., South Korea's biggest bad debt clearer in July.

After the conclusion of the deal, the shipbuilder was renamed K Shipbuilding. (Yonhap)