HD Hyundai announced on Aug. 9 that its shipbuilding affiliate HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard has begun the construction of a liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO₂) carrier, the first of its kind in the history of the Korean shipbuilding industry.
HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard held a groundbreaking ceremony for the 22,000-cubic-meter LCO₂ carrier at its headquarters in Ulsan of Korea. LCO₂ carriers transport carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere by liquefying it and have to have technology to stably store cargoes by maintaining constant tank pressure.
The vessel is the first of the four carriers of the same class ordered by Capital Maritime Group of Greece between July last year and January this year. According to HD Hyundai, it is the largest LCO₂ carrier that have been ordered globally to date.
The ship is 159.9 meters long, 27.4 meters wide and 17.8 meters high. It features an ice-resistant design that enables it to safely navigate cold icy seas.
Loaded with three bi-lobe carbon dioxide storage tanks that can stably maintain a low temperature and pressure environment of minus 55 degrees Celsius and five times atmospheric pressure, the vessel can carry various liquefied gas cargoes such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and ammonia (NH₃) in addition to carbon dioxide.
HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard will equip the vessel with a 2500-kilowatt (kW) alternative maritime power (AMP) supply and a sulfur oxide reduction system (SCR) to reduce air pollutant emissions such as fine dust and sulfur oxides and to let the client use it as an ammonia-powered vessel through modifications in the future.
HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard plans to sequentially build all of the four LCO₂ carriers and deliver them from November of 2025 to the second half of 2026.