South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. is building world’s first ballast-free vessel for delivery in September, becoming the first industry player to apply environmentally-friendly technology that enables ships to operate on minimized ecological damages.

The company said on Thursday it has been building a 7,500 cubic meter liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessel that does not require ballast water at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard’s shipyard since November. The ship will be delivered to Germany’s Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement Ltd. in September.

Existing vessels require a huge amount of ballast water to maintain balance for operations when they are not loaded with cargo. Ballast water is discharged when vessels reach the next port of call and cargo is loaded, and such ballast water discharges have been blamed for water pollution and damages to the marine ecosystem.

To protect the marine ecology from ballast water discharges, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) introduced a stringent guideline that requires all vessels to install a ballast water treatment system, which has been effective as of September.

But with the latest environmentally-friendly technology developed by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, vessels are no longer required to install a ballast water treatment system so ship owners would be able to save costs in building vessels. Such ballast-free ships would consume less energy but offers larger load capacity than traditional vessels.

An unnamed official from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard said that it will expand the application of its new environmentally-friendly technology with hopes to win more shipping orders in the global market.

Shares of Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, meanwhile, gained 2.99 percent or 3,000 won ($2.76) from the previous session to end at 103,500 won on Thursday.

By Woo Je-yoon and Lee Eun-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]