08.07.2016

Hyundai Mipo to build LNG-fuelled bulker

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard has secured a newbuilding order for an LNG-powered bulker from domestic steel giant Posco. The 50,000-dwt ship is due to be delivered in late 2017, Posco said. No financial terms were disclosed.

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard has secured a newbuilding order for an LNG-powered bulker from domestic steel giant Posco. The 50,000-dwt ship is due to be delivered in late 2017, Posco said. No financial terms were disclosed.

The ship’s fuel tanks will also feature steel with a high magnesium content called manganese steel or Hadfield steel, which is capable of handling the extreme temperatures of liquified LNG.

The steel is said to have higher levels of yield strength and cryogenic toughness compared with other alloy materials used for similar tanks including nickel and aluminum.

Upon delivery the vessel will be deployed to transport limestone from Gangwon Province to Posco’s steel mill in Gwangyang City.

Posco anticipates increased market adoption of the high manganese steel it is supplying to Hyundai Mipo Dockyard once the vessel is delivered.

“Once this vessel is put into operation, high manganese steel will become more likely to be adopted as a material for ultra-low-temperature environments by the International Maritime Organization,” it said.

Last November Finnish shipowner ESL Shipping ordered two handysize bulkers in China which it claimed were the world’s first large LNG-fuelled bulk carriers.

They were ordered on the back of long-term charters from steel company SSAB to transport raw materials within the Baltic Sea and from the North Sea.

The ships were ordered at China’s Sinotrans & CSC Qingshan Shipyard at a total cost of EUR 60m ($63.6m) and will start operating in the Baltic Sea in early 2018.

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