The Korean Register, the classification society of the Republic of Korea, has awarded an Approval in Principle (AIP) for an LNG dual-fuel Very Large Gas Carrier (VLGC) jointly developed by KR and South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The award was made at the five-day Gastech energy conference and exhibition in the Asian city state of Singapore.
“Currently, the global maritime industry is grappling with the development of various counter-measures to meet strengthening greenhouse-gas regulations and there is more market interest in eco-friendly ships fueled with LNG in particular,” said KR.
The newly approved LNG dual-fuel VLGC, which has been developed in response to market needs, utilizes both marine gas oil (MGO) and LNG as fuel and incorporates two LNG fuel tanks positioned on both sides of the open deck.
HHI executed the ship’s basic design, established the layout of fuel supply pipes and the gas detection system and designed the LNG fuel tank using their technical expertise.
Verified
KR verified the safety, suitability and the regulatory compliance of the design by reviewing national and international regulations, leading to the issuance of the AIP for the LNG dual-fuel VLGC.
“KR has been focusing on the development of eco-friendly technologies relevant to LNG for several years because LNG is considered a major alternative that can meet the international regulations,” said Kim Yeontae, Executive Vice President of KR’s Technical Division.
“We will further enhance our customer support to respond to decarbonization, based on our experience and technologies acquired from joint development projects with shipyards,” Kim added.
Jeon Seungho, HHI’s Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, said he was delighted with the award.
“HHI has been working to develop eco-friendly fuel propulsion ships such as LNG using our accumulated design technologies, and we are pleased to demonstrate our technical expertise with this AIP,” Jeon explained.
Order book
“We will continue to make technological innovations for the development of eco-friendly ships,” he stated.
HHI is one of the world’s leading builder of LNG carriers as well as LNG-powered vessels at its Ulsan shipyard.
The advanced facilities give the Korean company a 10 percent share of the global market. The main HHI yard stretches over 4 kilometres along the coast and has 10 large-scale drydocks with nine huge “Goliath Cranes”.
