Additional Order Option for 2 Eco-Friendly Container Ships
HJ Heavy Industries announced on the 20th that it has signed a construction contract with a European shipowner for two eco-friendly container ships of 7,900 TEU (1 TEU equals one 20-foot container) worth a total of $220 million (approximately 300 billion KRW).
The contract includes an option for the shipowner to order two additional vessels in the future, raising expectations for further orders. Including the two optional vessels, the total order value would increase to about 600 billion KRW.
The vessels ordered by HJ Heavy Industries are 272 meters long, 42.8 meters wide, and have a cruising speed of 22 knots. They are 7,900 TEU-class container carriers reflecting state-of-the-art specifications and eco-friendly designs. They will be built at the Busan Yeongdo Shipyard and are scheduled for sequential delivery in 2026.
The container ships ordered by HJ Heavy Industries this time are characterized by maximizing fuel efficiency and container capacity while being equipped with eco-friendly facilities.
They also fully comply with various environmental regulations set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). To meet IMO’s strengthened regulations on ship sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions, the vessels will be equipped with SOx scrubbers to remove sulfur from exhaust gases, and will be built as methanol-ready ships capable of using methanol as fuel to enable future carbon-neutral operations.
Recognized as one of the world’s top companies in the container ship sector, HJ Heavy Industries has built trust in the market through its technological competitiveness. In 2022, it obtained Approval in Principal (AIP) from Lloyd’s Register (LR) for the basic design of an LNG dual-fuel 7,700 TEU container ship, and based on this technological recognition, secured orders for two sister ships in the same year.
With market recovery and eco-friendly ship technology, inquiries from global shipowners have surged. Last month, HJ Heavy Industries successfully completed a project to build six 5,500 TEU eco-friendly container ships worth $410 million, ordered between 2021 and 2022, and received high praise and gratitude from the shipowners satisfied with the quality at the naming ceremony.
Recently, through joint research with Finland’s W?rtsil?, HJ Heavy Industries succeeded in developing an 8,500 TEU container ship equipped with carbon capture and storage technology that can capture, store, and unload carbon dioxide emitted from the ship, focusing on securing eco-friendly ship technology to accelerate carbon neutrality.
An HJ Heavy Industries official said, “This contract is the result of our focused efforts on developing and securing orders for eco-friendly, high value-added ships that can lead market trends. We will meet shipowners’ expectations and repay their trust through high-quality vessels and on-time delivery.”
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