[Report] LNG Ships Filling Dock Instead of Oil Tankers... Hanwha Ocean Geoje Yard Brings New Life

Four LNG carriers are being constructed simultaneously at Dock 1 of Hanwha Ocean Geoje Plant. Photo by Hanwha Ocean

On the 27th, at Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje plant in Gyeongnam, the deck of the LNG (liquefied natural gas) dual-fuel propulsion vessel 'Eagle Ventura,' scheduled to set sail on the 30th of this month, was filled with reporters. Park Min-tae, head of ship production management (CM) at Hanwha Ocean, said, "The ship carries two LNG fuel tanks with a capacity of 1,750㎥ each, allowing it to operate on LNG propulsion for over a month," adding, "It can carry 300,000 tons of crude oil, which is equivalent to transporting about 3.3 million residents of Busan."

The Hanwha Ocean Geoje plant looked markedly different from when it was covered last year during a subcontractor union strike. At that time, shipbuilding had come to a halt, and the company was worried about its survival. But now, vitality has returned to the Hanwha Ocean Geoje plant. The four world’s largest Goliath cranes bear the 'Hanwha' logo and name, with no trace of the former name 'Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.' Inside Dock 1, which can simultaneously build four ultra-large vessels, four LNG carriers are being constructed at the same time. The value of these four ships alone exceeds 1 trillion won. Just a year ago, Dock 1 was filled with ultra-large oil tankers.

Hanwha Ocean is dreaming of 'rebuilding a maritime powerhouse' led by eco-friendly ships. Currently, out of 99 ships on order at Hanwha Ocean, 65 are LNG carriers, accounting for 66% of the total backlog. Typically, LNG carriers have higher profitability than container ships or oil tankers. The production site at Hanwha Ocean Geoje is shifting its focus to building highly profitable ships based on technological expertise.

The Hanwha Ocean Geoje plant is a cradle for researching, developing, and constructing not only eco-friendly LNG carriers but also high value-added future eco-friendly ships, based on world-class facilities and technological capabilities. By responding to the demand for eco-friendly ship technologies driven by strengthened global environmental regulations, it plays a forward base role in securing leadership in the future shipbuilding market. Hanwha Ocean’s technological prowess in LNG carriers is recognized as the best in the world. Currently, one out of every four LNG carriers operating worldwide was built by Hanwha Ocean.

Hanwha Ocean’s vision for the future smart yard is ‘connectivity,’ ‘automation,’ and ‘intelligence.’

The Hanwha Ocean Geoje plant is at the forefront of realizing the future smart shipyard. Hanwha Ocean aims to achieve a 70% automation rate in production sites. The goal is to create a shipyard where anyone can work easily and safely, and to establish a smart shipyard culture that operates based on data. Big data generated throughout the production site is collected and shared, connecting all employees at the Geoje plant.

Hanwha Ocean’s 'Digital Production Center' serves as a 'forward base' for the 'smart yard' Hanwha Ocean pursues. It was established in 2021, the first of its kind in the shipbuilding industry.

The Digital Production Center functions like an airport control tower. Covering an area 1.5 times the size of Yeouido (4.9 million ㎡ / 1.5 million pyeong), it allows comprehensive monitoring of the vast production site without having to physically traverse or make phone calls. It quickly identifies issues and proposes solutions. The center consists of two facilities: the ‘Smart Production Management Center,’ which uses drones and Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to monitor block locations and production process information in real time, and the ‘Smart Sea Trial Center,’ which monitors the status of ships undergoing sea trials from land.

The mounted long-range welding robot is demonstrating welding. Photo by Hanwha Ocean

Automation and Intelligence Provide Safer Working Environments for Workers

Hanwha Ocean develops and applies production technologies and automation systems that enable anyone to work easily and safely. So far, Hanwha Ocean has successfully developed intelligent production innovation technologies and is utilizing over 80 robots across more than 10 fields in key processes such as welding and processing, including collaborative robots.

Kang Seung-won, a research fellow at Hanwha Ocean’s Robot Research Team, said, "In shipbuilding, a single ship block can weigh around 300 tons, so automating processes with robots is not easy." He added, "Especially in welding, the light and harmful gases make it difficult for humans to weld in enclosed spaces, but Hanwha Ocean has developed the world’s first 'mounted long-reach' robot applicable in enclosed areas and is preparing for its actual deployment."

Additionally, Hanwha Ocean is promoting smartification by integrating the latest AI, sensor, and IoT technologies into automated lines established throughout the Geoje plant. In particular, it continues research on automation and unmanned operations focusing on high-risk areas such as pre-treatment and painting. In subsequent processes, it has developed the shipbuilding industry’s first rail-free welding system and successfully developed automated cable laying equipment, which has been deployed on-site to simultaneously enhance safety and productivity.

Meanwhile, Hanwha Ocean manages all ships built at the Geoje plant safely and smartly 24/7 through intelligent ship safety and environmental monitoring systems. These include ▲remote control systems for LNG cargo hold environments, ▲real-time monitoring, alarm, and ventilation management systems for 4-Gas (oxygen, flammable gas, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide), and ▲AI systems for safety inspection and prediction of high-risk work. These systems accurately grasp information from the worksite to prevent major accidents. Safety inspection procedures, previously conducted offline before work, are now delivered online to individual workers, enabling more focused safety management.