Shipping Industry Embraces ESG Management Trend... Eco-Friendly Ships and Transparent Management

HMM Builds High-Efficiency Engine Container Ships
Pan Ocean Sees Surge in Green Bond Interest
Hyundai Glovis Launches Mid- to Long-Term Strategy

A rock climbing crane is loading container boxes onto an HMM vessel.

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The domestic shipping industry is strengthening the establishment of ESG (Environmental, Social Responsibility, Governance) management systems based on improved performance. The industry is focusing on non-financial management environment factors, such as increasing investment in eco-friendly vessels and enhancing the authority of outside directors.

According to the industry on the 30th, the 13,000 TEU-class (1 TEU equals one 20-foot container) Neo-Panamax container ship ordered by HMM is expected to be equipped with an eco-friendly and high-efficiency engine.

The new vessel will be equipped with a basic 'scrubber' to remove sulfur oxides (SOx) from exhaust gases generated during engine combustion, and a high-efficiency engine that improves energy efficiency by more than 50% compared to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) standards. Last year, HMM became the first in the world to install a scrubber on a 10,000 TEU-class container ship.

HMM has completed installing desulfurization scrubbers on more than 80% of the 73 vessels it currently holds under long-term charters of over one year. HMM has also started developing eco-friendly vessels to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Interest in ESG management in the shipping industry was also confirmed through Pan Ocean's ESG bond demand forecast. Pan Ocean received purchase orders totaling 403 billion KRW, eight times the amount, in the demand forecast for issuing 50 billion KRW of green bonds with a three-year maturity.

Of the 50 billion KRW raised through this bond issuance, Pan Ocean plans to invest 27 billion KRW in introducing eco-friendly liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply vessels, and use the remainder to install ballast water treatment systems. Ballast water, which maintains the ship's center of gravity, contains microorganisms and is known to pose a high risk of ecological disruption if discharged without treatment systems.

Hyundai Glovis is also operating a mid-to-long-term sustainable management strategy until 2025 to strengthen ESG competitiveness. First, it has established a dedicated ESG innovation group and a director-level consultative body to efficiently manage ESG factors across all business sites and partner companies.

The company continuously participates in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and steadily implements improvements. As a result, it has been included for six consecutive years in the '2020 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices' for both the Asia-Pacific Index and the Korea Index.

An industry official said, "Recently, global shipping companies are actively engaging in ESG management environments by replacing vessels with high-efficiency and eco-friendly ships," adding, "As ESG emerges as a criterion for evaluating companies, comprehensive eco-friendly and transparent management is expected to be strengthened."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.