South Korean shipbuilders that have been at the forefront of developing environment-friendly vessels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers are expected to become major beneficiaries of International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) latest decision to regulate sulphur dioxide (Sox) emissions from 2020.

According to multiple foreign media reports on Thursday (local time), IMO Secretary General Lim Ki-tack said the United Nations maritime body has decided to reduce the global cap on sulphur emissions from ships from the current 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent starting 2020. His comments were made after the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting in London.

Ship owners have been suggesting that tightened regulation on sulphur emissions should come into effect at a later time in 2025, but the IMO and MEPC have decided to push forward with the decision to reduce the emissions cap from 2020.

An unnamed official from the shipbuilding industry said that to abide by the tighter regulation on sulphur emissions, all vessels on the sea should switch marine fuel from bunker-C oil to LNG, a move that is expected to bring huge business opportunities to Korean shipbuilders with the opening of a new market for LNG vessels.

Park Moo-hyun, an analyst at Hana Financial Investment Co., said that 95 percent or more of world’s used ships are loaded with machinery engines and are unfit for the tightened IMO regulation. He anticipated that the overall switch in vessel fuel should open a new chapter for an era of LNG propulsion vessels.

LNG vessels are widely known as environment-friendly ships that emit only 3 percent of sulphur compared to bunker-C fuel vessels. They also reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 80 percent and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 25 percent.

Korea’s big three shipbuilders Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., and Samsung Heavy Industries Co., also the world’s three largest shipbuilders, are globally evaluated as having more competitive edge over their Chinese rivals in developing green vessels that emit less maritime pollution.

An unnamed industry official said that when double-hall tankers were introduced as part of regulation in early 2000 to prevent oil spill, the number of new oil tanker orders increased significantly. The official expected that the same would happen for environment-friendly vessels that require advanced technology following the tightened cap on sulphur emissions.

By Moon Ji-woong

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