S. Korea to support LNG bunkering ship project

SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Tuesday it will support a business building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering ship with 15 billion won (US$12.4 million).

A ship-to-ship bunkering vessel is capable of directly supplying LNG-powered ships on the ocean.

The country plans to financially support the business building the bunkering ship by covering about 30 percent of the total cost. The ship, to be completed by 2022, will have a capacity of around 7,500 cubic meters of LNG, which far exceeds the average of 30 cubic meters of LNG carried by a truck.

The country currently uses the truck-to-ship transfer method of LNG but rising demand for the clean energy source in the maritime industry has made it essential to build a bunkering ship, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The move also came as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) recently started implementing tougher environmental guidelines for the maritime industry, inducing ships to use clean fuel, such as low-sulfur fuel oil, marine gas oil and LNG.

colin@yna.co.kr
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