Hyundai Steel’s 1st LNG-fueled bulk carrier starts maiden trip

South Korean steel-making company Hyundai Steel has welcomed HL Oceanic, its first LNG-fueled bulk carrier, which started its maiden voyage to Australia.

Hyundai Steel said it started to reduce its CO2 footprint through eco-friendly operation by chartering LNG ships for overseas raw material transportation.

On 24 November, the company announced that it took delivery of its bulk carrier HL Oceanic. The ship immediately started its first voyage to Australia from the Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries shipyard in Mokpo.

The vessel is a 180,000 deadweight tonnage ship that runs on LNG. Compared to existing ship oil, LNG can SOx, NOx, and CO2 by 99, 90, and 30 per cent, respectively.

The ship will transport two million tonnes of iron ore and coal annually between Korea and Australia.

In order to respond to environmental changes, Hyundai Steel signed a deal to promote the introduction of eco-friendly LNG-fueled ships. It signed the agreement with a Korean ministry, Korea Gas Corporation, and H-Line Shipping back in May 2019.

Hyundai Steel also expects the second LNG-fueled bulk carrier HL Sunny for delivery in March next year.

In addition to the two, HS also said that it will replace the remaining raw material vessels with eco-friendly ones.

From March of next year, 31 per cent of raw material-only vessels will be equipped with desulfurization devices, 15per cent will be LNG-powered vessels, and the rest will use low-sulfur oil.