NEWS

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), the intermediate holding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group's shipbuilding sector, wins six methanol-powered container ships order worth KRW 1.62 trillion.

On October 5, KSOE said that it has recently signed a contract with Denmark-based Maersk, the integrated logistics company, for six 17,000-TEU methanol-powered very-large container ships. 

The container ships will be built at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, South Korea, and delivered to Maersk one by one by 2025. 

These container ships will be equipped with dual-fuel methanol engines. Methanol is drawing attention as the next-generation eco-friendly marine fuel because it significantly reduces emissions of pollutants, such as sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and greenhouse gas, compared to conventional ship oils. When all 19 methanol-powered ships are completely built and delivered to Maersk for their full-fledged operation, they can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 2.3 million tons per year. 

In January of this year, Maersk set a goal to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions to almost zero across the entire supply chain by 2040. To this end, Maersk said it will halve carbon emissions per container by 2030 and use green fuels for 25 percent of all cargo transported at sea. 

KSOE and Maersk signed an order contract for eight 16,000 TEU methanol-fueled large container ships, the first of its kind in the world, in August last year. So far, the two businesses have continued their cooperation for the expansion of cleaner marine fuel ships including contracting for a total of 19 methanol-powered container ships. 

An official from KSOE said, "It is meaningful in that we have proven our competitiveness by winning a series of orders for methanol-powered container ships based on our differentiated technology," and added, "KSOE will make an effort to lead the eco-friendly ship market by reinforcing the cooperation with Maersk in related fields."