HeungHae, one of Korea’s largest tug service companies, launched Pyeongtake and Dangjin Ports’ first eco-friendly LNG-powered tugs. The company held a launching ceremony for the Gold Castle, a 5000hp grade LNG-powered tug at the management quay of the Pyeongtaek internal harbor. About 100 attendees of the ceremony, including HeungHae Chairman Bae Dong jin and DongHwa Etec CEO Kim Dong kun, prayed for the Gold Castle’s safe sailing. HeungHae, marking the 50th anniversary of its establishment this year, has proactively participated in the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries’ policy for ports’ decarbonizing in line with the climate change crisis. The Songdo, Korea’s first 5000hp grade LNG-powered tug (KOGAS Marine), launched from Incheon Port, followed by the Gold Castle, the second in Korea and the first constructed and launched at Pyeongtake Port.

The Gold Castle and Songdo are sister ships built by DH Shipbuilding, a tug-specialty shipyard located in Incheon, with a total tonnage of 313 tons, full length at 37.3m, width at 10m and sea gauge at 3.5m. Designed by KmsEmec, with the application of Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Himsen DF Engine, Kongsberg’s omnidirectional propeller (variable-pitch propeller), and DongHwa Entec’s LNG fuel gas supply system (FGSS), these tugs can sail at a maximum 13.5 knots. The Gold Castle’s strength, in particular, is that it can provide tug service while sailing safely, as it is equipped with cutting-edge safety equipment, such as Around View Monitoring (AVM), which has not been installed to the Songdo, an Integrated Automation System (IAS), a Digital Twin System, a winch using a powerful electric inverter motor, Kongsberg’s LNG tank safety monitoring system, and a high-performance other-ship fire extinguisher system.

Further, the Gold Castle is gaining attention for its technology in the small domestic, eco-friendly ship construction industry, which could be improved through construction of the small eco-friendly ships and parts localization, including Hyundai Heavy Industries and DongHwa Entec’s development and upgrades of engines suitable for intricate tug sailing procedures and LNG fuel supply systems. Hyundai Heavy Industries and DongHwa Entec expect that their experience in the construction of the Gold Castle will be of great help in winning small eco-friendly ship contracts overseas and supplying parts.

It is believed that HeungHae went through a substantial difficulty until its active participation in the government’s eco-friendly policy and completion of the Gold Castle. HeungHae’s construction of the Gold Castle was supported by about 2.1 billion KRW from a national subsidy as it was chosen as a business operator to switch to LNG fuel propulsion for old tugs in 2020. However, with the total ship construction cost of 9 billion KRW, two times greater than typical tug construction, the decision to invest was not easy. The point is that the government’s policy support needs to be expanded further to increase the number of eco-friendly LNG-powered tugs to reach port decarbonizing targets in the future. In addition to the higher construction costs, operation costs are also a problem. With LNG prices soaring due to the Russia-Ukraine war, even large dual fuel LNG ships are now using low-sulfur fuel instead of LNG; especially for port tugs that consume more fuel, in other words, even if the ships were built as LNG-powered ships, they have to use bunker oil instead of LNG. Therefore, experts recommend that LNG fuel should be supplied at policy-driven discounted prices to spread the use of LNG-powered tugs. HeungHae Chairman Bae Dong jin said, “I decided to build the Gold Castle despite many difficulties to make any contribution to the so-called global carbon neutrality metadiscourse, and to be in synch with the eco-friendly ship industry’s eco-system promotion policy, which is the purpose of the government’s national subsidy support.” He added, “I feel very proud with the satisfying results from our hard efforts and I thank those who have helped us.”