HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has become the first in the world to successfully build an ammonia-fueled vessel.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries said on April 9 that it held a naming ceremony at its Ulsan shipyard for two 46,000㎥-class mid-sized gas carriers equipped with dual-fuel  engines.

About 70 officials and employees attended the event, including Joo Won-ho, head (president) of the Naval & Special Ship/Mid-sized Ship Business Division at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries; Nicolas Saverys, chairman of Belgium-based shipowner Exmar; and Bruno Jans, Belgium’s ambassador to the Republic of Korea.

The two vessels, ‘Antwerpen’ and ‘Arlon,’ were named in honor of  Belgian cities.

The vessels are the first and second of four ammonia-fueled mid-sized gas carriers that HD Hyundai Heavy Industries won orders for in 2023 and 2024 from “Exmar LPG France,” a subsidiary of Exmar, and they are scheduled to be delivered to the shipowner in May and at the end of July, respectively, after final outfitting work.

Measuring 190ｍ in length, 30.4ｍ in breadth, and 18.8ｍ in height, each vessel is fitted with three cargo tanks designed and manufactured using HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ in-house technology, enabling stable transport of liquefied gas cargoes such as ammonia and LPG.

The company also enhanced eco-friendliness by applying a shaft generator that produces electricity using the propulsion engine’s rotating shaft, as well as a nitrogen oxides reduction device.

In particular, safety was secured through disaster-prevention technologies and systems, including detection devices that can monitor ammonia leaks in real time and an emission recovery device.

Ammonia, an eco-friendly carbon-free fuel, can be stored in pressurized tanks or low-temperature tanks without cryogenic technology, and when liquefied, it is considered suitable for large-scale, long-distance transport and storage of hydrogen as it offers a storage density 1.7 times higher than liquefied hydrogen for the same volume.

The International Energy Agency (IEA)’s 2050 carbon-neutral roadmap projects that ammonia’s share of marine fuels will rise from 8% in 2030 to 46% in 2050, and demand for ammonia-fueled vessels is therefore expected to increase significantly.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has so far won orders for a total of eight ammonia-fueled vessels from Exmar, Trafigura, and others. In 2016, it delivered the world’s first methanol-fueled petrochemical products carrier (PC), and in 2023, it delivered the world’s first methanol-fueled container carrier.

Source:Business Korea