South Korea christens country’s first LNG bunkering vessel “Blue Whale”
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by Admin
A naming ceremony was held to christened a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker vessel Blue Whale, equipped with a homegrown advanced cargo system, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea on Wednesday (10 May).
The ministry said the vessel was built at the shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. in the southern port city of Ulsan for three years from 2020 with a total investment of KRW 55.3 billion (USD 41.74 million).
It also said it is the first vessel equipped with the advanced Korean type KC-2 cargo design.
Local news outlets reported South Korea developed its own cargo technologies from 2004 to 2014, dubbed KC-1, and built four bunkering vessels adopting the system. Based on that, it launched a project in 2017 to upgrade the system to come up with the advanced KC-2 cargo design.
The ship will be able to provide 7,500 cubic meters (m3) of LNG fuel directly to vessels, compared with an average of 30 m3 of LNG carried by a truck, which is expected to boost efficiency of LNG bunkering on the ocean.
Photo credit: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy
Published: 11 May, 2023
