This photo provided by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. shows a petrochemicals carrier built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co.
SEOUL, July 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Thursday that its shipbuilding unit Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. has obtained the green light for its ammonia-propelled ships from Lloyd’s Register, a British quality assurance and risk management company.
Hyundai Mipo Dockyard has been aiming to commercialize the ammonia-propelled ships by 2025 in cooperation with global engine maker MAN Energy Solutions and Lloyd’s Register from last October, Korea Shipbuilding said in an emailed statement.
Ammonia has been attracting a lot of attention in the shipbuilding industry as an eco-friendly fuel for ships that does not emit carbon dioxide when it is burned.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted mandatory steps under which carriers are required to operate a fleet of vessels designed to cut emissions of carbon dioxide by more than 30 percent by 2025 compared with 2008.
The IMO is also considering further reducing emission levels by 40 percent by 2030 and 70 percent by 2050.
From Jan. 1, 2020, the IMO lowered the sulfur cap on fuel content from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent.
Korea Shipbuilding, newly formed from Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., is the subholding firm of Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. and has three shipbuilders — Hyundai Heavy, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. — under its wing.
Korea Shipbuilding and Hyundai Heavy set up a center in March in Ulsan, 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to develop ships powered by both liquefied natural gas (LNG) engines and fuel cells by late 2021.
(Yonhap)
