KR enhances KR-CON with AI-powered features amid rising regulatory complexity

The volume and pace of regulatory change from the International Maritime Organization is increasing the complexity of compliance for shipowners and maritime stakeholders, as amendments to major frameworks such as SOLAS and MARPOL continue to evolve.

In response, Korean Register (KR) has launched Version 24 of ‘KR-CON’, its comprehensive digital database of international maritime conventions, with enhanced search functionality designed to help users more efficiently navigate and verify applicable regulatory requirements. The upgrade integrates KR’s AI-powered features into the web-based service and restructured the classification system of convention documents, significantly enhancing search performance. As a result, users can retrieve relevant regulatory information more quickly and with greater accuracy.

The ‘Convention Today’ menu—used to identify applicable conventions based on specific entry-into-force dates—now features more detailed search conditions, improving both efficiency and clarity. Visibility has been enhanced through expanded display of update dates and improved visibility of recently amended documents.

KR-CON Version 24 includes amendments adopted at key IMO meetings in 2025, including the 34th IMO Assembly, the 110th session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), and the 83rd session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC). These include updates to major international conventions such as the SOLAS Convention and the MARPOL Convention. Newly adopted instruments will continue to be added as they are adopted.

KIM Hoijun, General Manager of Convention & Legislation Service at KR, stated, “Through this upgrade, we have significantly improved accessibility to convention information and search efficiency. Looking ahead, we plan to adopt Agentic RAG (Agentic Retrieval-Augmented Generation), a next-generation AI-based search technology that retrieves external data, generates responses, and incorporates autonomous decision-making to further advance KR-CON into an intelligent service where AI can autonomously explore and verify information.”

KR-CON is available in multiple formats, including a web platform, mobile application, USB, and web-installed version, providing access to IMO conventions, codes, resolutions, and circulars.