Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Converts 475 Ships to 'Eco-friendly Vessels' This Year... Invests 383.8 Billion KRW

Establishment of the '2022 Eco-friendly Ship Distribution Implementation Plan'

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The government will invest a total of 383.8 billion KRW this year to convert a total of 475 vessels into eco-friendly ships.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 2nd that it will establish the "2022 Eco-friendly Ship Supply Implementation Plan" containing these details and will officially announce it on the 3rd. The plan is to increase the scale of eco-friendly ship conversions by 350 vessels by investing 178.8 billion KRW more than last year.

First, with a budget of 307.7 billion KRW, which is 171.3 billion KRW more than last year, 47 public vessels will be newly built as eco-friendly ships, and eco-friendly equipment will be installed on 30 vessels to proactively promote the introduction of eco-friendly ships in the public sector.

Support for private sector eco-friendly ship conversions will also be expanded. The subsidy rate for domestic coastal vessels will be raised from a maximum of 20% to 30% of the ship price, and the number of eligible vessels will increase from 102 to 398. Accordingly, a budget of 52.2 billion KRW, which is 19.6 billion KRW more than last year, will be invested to support the new construction of 21 eco-friendly ships and the installation of eco-friendly equipment on 377 vessels.

In addition, infrastructure for supplying eco-friendly fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and electricity will be expanded. First, to meet the growing trend of LNG vessels and ensure smooth fuel supply, a dedicated fuel supply vessel will be built and related technologies will be demonstrated. By the end of the year, one Korean-style LNG bunkering dedicated vessel equipped with a cargo tank (capacity 7,500㎥) made of a new material (high manganese steel) independently developed by a Korean company will be constructed. To promote the spread of electric propulsion vessels, a mobile and replaceable power supply system will be developed, and shore power supply facilities will be established at Mokpo North Port to charge electricity for hybrid government vessels that use both electric and diesel engines.

Furthermore, the scope of national eco-friendly certification will be expanded to include not only ships but also individual equipment. Priority will be given to establishing testing, inspection, and safety standards for promising technologies among the nation's top 100 eco-friendly technologies to support commercialization and entry into the global market.

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