[Report] LNG Ships Filling Dock Instead of Oil Tankers... Hanwha Ocean Geoje Plant Brings New Life (Comprehensive)

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

On the 27th, I boarded the deck of the LNG (liquefied natural gas) dual-fuel propulsion vessel 'Eagle Ventura' at Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje plant in Gyeongnam, which is scheduled to set sail on the 30th of this month. Dual-fuel propulsion ships use both traditional ship fuel bunker C oil and gas fuels such as LNG.

Hanwha Ocean Aims to 'Rebuild Maritime Prestige' Leading with LNG Propulsion Ships

Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje plant looked quite different from when I covered the subcontractor union strike last year. At that time, shipbuilding had stopped, and the company’s survival was in question. But now, the Geoje plant is lively again. The name 'Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering' has disappeared from the four world’s largest Goliath cranes, replaced by the Hanwha logo. Inside Dock 1, capable of building four ultra-large vessels simultaneously, 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.

Typically, LNG carriers have higher profitability than container ships or oil tankers because they require higher construction difficulty due to the need to store LNG in a liquefied state below minus 163 degrees Celsius. The production site at Hanwha Ocean Geoje is shifting to focus on building highly profitable ships based on advanced technology. Currently, LNG propulsion ships emit almost no sulfur oxides (SOx) compared to conventional bunker C oil propulsion ships, and nitrogen oxides (NOx) and greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by more than 85% and 25%, respectively.

Regarding the LNG propulsion ship Eagle Ventura, Park Min-tae, head of Ship Production Management (CM) at Hanwha Ocean, said, "It carries two LNG fuel tanks with a capacity of 1,750 cubic meters each, allowing propulsion using LNG fuel for over a month," adding, "It can carry 300,000 tons of crude oil." He explained, "It is the size that could carry about 3.3 million Busan citizens."

Hanwha Ocean dreams of 'rebuilding maritime prestige' led by eco-friendly ships. Currently, out of 99 ships on order at Hanwha Ocean, 65 are LNG carriers.

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

The mounted Lonzi welding robot is demonstrating welding work. Photo by Hanwha Ocean

Core of Future Smart Yard: 'Connectivity,' 'Automation,' and 'Intelligence'

Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje plant is at the forefront of realizing the smart shipyard of the future. Hanwha Ocean has set a goal to achieve 70% automation in the production site. They aim to create a shipyard where anyone can work easily and safely, and to establish a smart shipyard culture that works with 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 an 'advanced base' for the 'smart yard' (the shipyard’s production site) that Hanwha Ocean pursues. It was established in 2021, the first 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 square meters or 1.5 million pyeong), it allows comprehensive monitoring of the vast production site without having to physically traverse or call each location, and provides rapid solutions when problems arise. The Digital Production Center consists of two centers: 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.