Modular shipbuilding: The future is CUBEDIN

A pioneering new venture has been announced between Danish firms Systematic and Odense Maritime Technology (OMT). 
 
Called CUBEDIN the company is the newest arrival within modular shipbuilding – and both companies will use their collective experience, and the latest in technology, to provide the maritime industry with more shipbuilding and design options than ever before. 

OMT, which has a strong heritage in containership and frigate design, will provide the expertise on optimal payload positions on a ship. This physical interface ensures the modules, known as Cubes, operate in tandem with the ship. 
 
Systematic, which develops world-leading solutions across the defence, healthcare and renewables industries, will provide the software needed to integrate the different systems. This enables a ship to be correctly configured for its mission and allows new Cubes to work seamlessly alongside legacy systems. 
 

Flexibility is key 

For navies in particular the ability to swap modules and repurpose a ship means that more vessels can be available to take on a range of different tasks. For example, a ship could be quickly reconfigured to meet a different role from its previous mission 

“This is a much-needed opportunity for navies,” said Kåre Groes Christiansen, CEO in OMT. “Today ships are not built with flexibility in mind – they are purpose-built for a specific function. 

“As such, they can only be used for that particular task. With our CUBEDIN technology, manufacturers can build modular ships that can be adapted to different missions or roles – by just swapping out the cube modules. 

“This approach also drives down costs as mission-specific ships are expensive to both buy and maintain.”  

Time-saving technology 

As well as providing the software and hardware that enables this type of modular integration, the concept saves years in production.  

Rather than a linear production timeline, CUBEDIN’s concept allows concurrent design of both ship platforms and payloads.  

As a product architecture strategy, the concept can also be used as a guideline for the development of new ship platforms and new Cube designs. 

If this philosophy is followed, then CUBEDIN’s concept also makes it faster to adopt new technology onto a ship class as the updated ‘cube’ is configured in advance and then adopted into the hull. 

CUBEDIN was established in 2022 as a pioneering new venture in ship design and modular technology. It was formed between OMT, a premium maritime consulting firm with a strong heritage in containership and frigate design, and Systematic which develops world-leading software solutions across the defence, healthcare and renewables industries. This combination provides a formidable offering to the maritime industry where shipbuilding and design is faster, more cost-effective and provides adaptable, multi-role vessels. 

We would like to offer interviews with CUBEDIN to media at Euronaval. Systematic will be in hall 2B on booth B67. To book an interview and time slot please email Defence Communications Manager Samantha Chapman at Samantha.chapman@systematic.com or call +44 7570 535490.