SEOUL: Global shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Group said Monday it has built a very large container ship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the first time in the world.
The group said Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., one of its shipbuilding units, will deliver the vessel with a capacity of 14,800 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) to Singapore’s Eastern Pacific Shipping on Sept. 15.
Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries has recently completed a trial run of the ship that is 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, the group added.
In April 2018, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries clinched a deal to build six LNG-powered container ships from the Singaporean shipping company.
LNG-powered ships are considered an eco-friendly option to meet strengthened environmental regulations, but high costs have posed challenges to private shippers.
So far, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group has won contracts to construct 44 LNG-powered bulk carries, tankers and container vessels. In July 2018, the group delivered a very large LNG-powered oil tanker with a displacement of 114,000 tons, becoming the first shipyard in the world to do so.
