Completion of the First LNG Dual-Fuel Propulsion Container Ship Construction Project
HJ Heavy Industries (CEO Yu Sang-cheol) held a simultaneous naming ceremony for two 7,700 TEU LNG DF (dual-fuel) container ships at the Busan Yeongdo Shipyard on the morning of the 21st. This is the first time the company has built LNG dual-fuel propulsion container ships.
The event was attended by about 100 people, including Angeliki Frangou, Chairwoman of Navios Maritime, the Greek shipowner, Shunji Sasada, President, Kim Kyung-bae, President of HMM, the charterer, Yu Sang-cheol, CEO of HJ Heavy Industries, and other related personnel.
(From left) Sangchul Yoo, CEO of HJ Heavy Industries; Eonkyung Moon, Team Leader of Korea Trade Insurance Corporation; Angeliki Frangou, Chairwoman of Navios Maritime; Kyungbae Kim, President of HMM.
The two vessels were named ‘HMM OCEAN’ and ‘HMM SKY’, respectively.
These ships are 7,700 TEU LNG dual-fuel propulsion container ships worth a total of 240 million USD, ordered by HJ Heavy Industries in 2022. At that time, HJ Heavy Industries obtained conformity approval from the UK classification society to enter the eco-friendly dual-fuel propulsion ship market, thereby gaining recognition for its technology as an eco-friendly container carrier.
With this, HJ Heavy Industries has once again proven its global competitiveness in the eco-friendly container ship sector by successfully building two 7,700 TEU LNG DF container ships following the six 5,500 TEU container ships it started building after re-entering the merchant ship market in 2021.
Based on this competitiveness, HJ Heavy Industries plans to actively target the mid-to-large container ship market of 5,000 to 9,000 TEU, which can accelerate carbon neutrality, including methanol-ready and LNG dual-fuel ships, as well as methanol propulsion ships.
Recently, the company has also begun research and development of ultra-large ammonia carriers (VLAC) capable of transporting ammonia and hydrogen, which are gaining attention as zero-carbon fuels, striving to secure next-generation technological capabilities.
Yu Sang-cheol, CEO of HJ Heavy Industries, said in his commemorative speech, “From the design stage, we closely collaborated with the shipowner to meet customer demands and strengthened environmental regulations while applying new technologies. Through the successful construction of these container ships, I am confident that trust and cooperation between the two companies will be enhanced and prosperous, and I wish for the safety of the captains and crew who will operate the vessels.”
Second from the right in the front row, HJ Heavy Industries CEO Sangchul Yoo, third, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation Team Leader Munkyung Moon, fourth, Navios Maritime Chairperson Angeliki Frangou, sixth, HMM President Kyungbae Kim.
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