HJ Shipbuilding & Construction announced on the 10th that it has secured a contract for one 18,000 cubic meter liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessel from H-Line Shipping for 127.1 billion won.
The newly contracted vessel measures 144 meters in length, 25.2 meters in width, and 12.8 meters in depth, making it a large-scale LNG bunkering ship capable of supplying up to 18,000 cubic meters of LNG in a single operation.
The vessel is equipped with two independent LNG tanks certified by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and features a dual fuel propulsion system that can use both the environmentally friendly fuel LNG and marine diesel. LNG propulsion vessels generally receive fuel from onshore LNG storage tanks, but by using LNG bunkering vessels, they can receive LNG fuel directly at sea without docking.
TotalEnergies Marine Fuels, a marine fuel supplier in Singapore, projected that global LNG bunkering demand will rise from 400,000 tons in 2017 to 10 million tons this year. Especially, with the announcement from the Donald Trump second administration in the U.S. to expand oil and natural gas drilling and to resume LNG exports, expectations are high for an active related vessel market.
Yoo Sang-cheol, CEO of HJ Shipbuilding & Construction, noted, “As global LNG demand and supply continue to grow, the LNG bunkering vessel market will also keep expanding. We will focus on securing a competitive edge in the market by accumulating eco-friendly, high-value shipbuilding technology that lives up to the reputation of the shipbuilding industry.”