Leading the Way in Special Vessel Technology
for Large-Scale Maritime Chemical Incident Response
HJ Heavy Industries will be the first in Korea to build a 1,900-ton class multipurpose chemical defense ship for the Korea Coast Guard.
HJ Heavy Industries (CEO Yoo Sangcheol) announced on the 24th that it has signed a construction contract worth 68.8 billion won after being selected as the top bidder in both price and technical evaluation for the "Construction of one 1,900-ton class multipurpose chemical defense ship" project ordered by the Public Procurement Service.
The multipurpose chemical defense ship is a specialized vessel equipped with chemical analysis equipment, oil recovery devices, and towing facilities for accident ships, designed to prepare for and respond to maritime chemical incidents. It requires higher safety standards and more advanced construction techniques than general ships, and is currently operated only in a few advanced countries such as the United States, Germany, and Sweden.
The Korea Coast Guard has operated two 500-ton class chemical defense ships since the fire incident involving the chemical tanker Maritime Maisie near Taejongdae, Busan, in 2013. As carbon neutrality policies have expanded and the introduction of gas-powered vessels such as LNG and hydrogen ships has increased, the need for multipurpose chemical defense ships capable of responding to large-scale maritime chemical incidents has been consistently raised.
Accordingly, the Korea Coast Guard began full-scale construction of the vessel last year, starting with the design phase, aiming for field deployment by 2028.
Perspective rendering of the 1,900-ton class multipurpose chemical defense ship to be built by HJ Heavy Industries.
The multipurpose chemical defense ship ordered by HJ Heavy Industries will be 70 meters long, 14.6 meters wide, and 6.5 meters deep, with a maximum speed of 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h). With a cruising range of 1,600 kilometers, it will be capable of performing response missions anywhere in Korean waters in the event of an accident.
It will be equipped with towing facilities for large distressed vessels up to 30,000 tons and will be able to conduct search, rescue, and firefighting operations even in rough seas with wave heights of 2.5 to 4 meters. For the first time in Korea, it will also feature a hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) safety response system and detection/analysis system to respond to coastal marine pollution and chemical incidents. Its firefighting capacity at sea is over four times that of the existing 500-ton class chemical defense ships, at 9,600 cubic meters per hour.
HJ Heavy Industries has once again demonstrated its competitiveness in the special vessel sector, following the delivery of the 5,500-ton class multipurpose large response ship Endam, ordered by the Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation in 2022, by successfully securing the contract for this 1,900-ton class multipurpose chemical defense ship.
An HJ Heavy Industries official said, "We have been entrusted with the construction of Korea's first multipurpose chemical defense ship, having been recognized for our expertise and technical capabilities accumulated in the special vessel sector," adding, "We will devote our efforts to the construction so as to strengthen the Korea Coast Guard's incident response capabilities and contribute to marine environmental protection."
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