Building Korea’s first LNG tugboat “Baekryeongho” will be started. 

The IPA simultaneously held the “Q2 Worn-out Tugboat LNG Shift Project Deliberation Committee” and the ship’s keel laying, while people from Korea Gas Shipping and a tugboat operator, DH Shipbuilding officials attended, at DH Shipbuilding located in Dong-gu, Incheon, on the 23rd.   

The keel laying is a process laying the keel, which is the central framework supporting the bottom of the boat from the bow to the stern, and is a process putting the pre-manufactured hull block on the dock, which implies that full scale shipbuilding started. 

A tugboat is a ship pulling or pushing a large ship to help it berth or leave the dock when it enters/leaves a port. 

Incheon Port was designated as the Worn-out Tugboats’ Shift into LNG Project pilot port by the MOF, and so the first-ever LNG tug boat is being built in Korea. 

The IPA commissioned the Worn-out LNG Fuel Shift Project management promoted by the MOF, selected Korea Gas Shipping as the tugboat operator last September, and the project is being implemented. 

Korea Gas Shipping signed a contract to build the LNG tugboat with DH Shipbuilding in Incheon. 

The shipping company will receive the ship in the first half next year and plans to start first commercial operations in Incheon Port in June next year.

Korea’s first LNG tugboat Baekryeongho is 5000hp, and is 37m in length and 10m in width, and it can sail at a maximum speed of 25.9km per hour. 

KRW 9.1 billion will be spent and it is about 60% more expensive than existing diesel tugboats according to the industry. 

The MOF supports KRW 1.7 billion (MOF: KRW 1.4 billion and IPA: KRW 300 million), about 20% of the total project cost. 

A Korean ship design company KMS participated in the project and Hyundai Industries’ Powerful Engine was adopted instead of the Japanese engine used for most tugboats. 

Also, Korea’s mid-sized firm Donghwa Entec’s LNG fuel supply device was selected, and thus the project is expected to hugely contribute to parts localization. 

Only about 10 LNG tug boats are currently in operation worldwide, and if the Baekryeongho is built, it will be a starting point for Korea to enter the global market of small eco-ships.

Source: Energy Newspaper (June 23, 2020). http://www.energy-news.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=71145