South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. said Wednesday it has delivered the world's first container ship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a Singaporean shipping company.
The LNG-powered container ship with a capacity of 14,800 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) is one of six ships to be built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries for Singapore's Eastern Pacific Shipping in a 2018 deal.
The other ships will be delivered by the third quarter of 2022, the company said.
"The ship has been delivered according to the deal with the shipping company without any delay," Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries said.
Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries is a unit of global shipbuilding giant Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co.
LNG-powered ships are considered an alternative to meet enhanced regulations calling for cutting emissions by more than 30 percent by 2025 compared with 2008 by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The IMO is also seeking to further reduce the emission levels by 40 percent by 2030 and by 70 percent by 2050.
In addition, the IMO lowered the sulfur cap on fuel content from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent from this year.
Sulphur oxides in the atmosphere can lead to acid rain that hurts crops and forests, and causes the acidification of the oceans.
Source: Yonhap