Hanwha Ocean announced  that it has secured an order worth 1.93 trillion won  from Taiwan’s Yang Ming Marine Transport, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, for seven 15,880 TEU liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel container ships. One TEU is equivalent to a 20-foot container.

The new vessels will be equipped with LNG dual-fuel propulsion engines as standard and designed to be “ammonia-ready,” meaning they can be converted to ammonia dual-fuel propulsion in response to tightening international environmental regulations. The ships will be built at Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje shipyard and delivered by the first half of 2029.

Notably, this project will feature the world’s first Type-B LNG fuel tanks with a design pressure of 1.0 bar. A bar is a unit of pressure equal to the force exerted by a weight of about 10 tons on an area of one square meter. Compared with the previous 0.7 bar standard, the higher pressure will enable safer and longer storage of LNG boil-off gas, reducing the need for incinerating unnecessary gases and minimizing penalty costs during port stays. This provides shipowners with tangible operational advantages.

Yang Ming Marine Transport, which has a total fleet capacity of 727,000 TEU, ranks among the world’s top 10 shipping companies. This deal marks the first collaboration between Hanwha Ocean and Yang Ming, following Hanwha Ocean’s contract in March with another Taiwanese carrier, Evergreen Marine, for ultra-large container ships.

Hanwha Ocean CEO Kim Hee-cheul said, “This first contract with Yang Ming Marine Transport is a recognition of Hanwha Ocean’s differentiated eco-friendly technology and design capabilities. We will further solidify our technological edge and lead the global eco-friendly shipbuilding market.”

Source:Business Korea