South Korea’s H-Line taps domestic yard for LNG bunker vessel

South Korean owner H-Line Shipping has ordered an LNG bunkering vessel at domestic yard HJ Shipbuilding & Construction (HJSC).

The contract covers an 18,000 cu m unit costing about KRW127bn ($87.6m) with no specified delivery date.

H-Line’s fleet predominantly consists of capsize bulkers, but the company is also active in the LNG and car carrier segments. It has placed most of its orders in these segments since 2021, when it also signed its first shipping deal with Rio Tinto for an LNG-fuelled 180,000 dwt bulker.

The company’s LNG bunkering newbuild will be 144 m long, equipped with two independent tanks, and feature an LNG dual-fuel propulsion system.

HJSC built the world’s first LNG bunker ship for NYK in 2014—the 5,100 cu m Green Zeebrugge, currently on charter to Danish marine fuel supplier Monjasa in the UAE. The shipbuilder said it expects to benefit from the anticipated uptick in the LNG bunkering sector, where several owners, including Avenir, Fuzhou Wuyang, Singfar, Peninsula and Equatorial Marine, had most recently placed newbuilding orders.

“As global LNG demand and supply increase, the LNG bunkering ship market will also continue to grow,” said Yoo Sang-cheol CEO of HJSC, adding: “We will focus on securing unrivalled competitiveness in the market by accumulating eco-friendly, high-value-added shipbuilding technologies worthy of the reputation of a leading shipbuilding company.”