South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean joins GCMD as Strategic Partner

SEOUL : The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and Hanwha Ocean today announced a five-year strategic partnership to advance maritime decarbonisation in the areas of alternative low-/zero carbon fuels, energy efficiency technologies, and onboard carbon capture.

This partnership also marks GCMD’s inaugural centre-level partnership with a South Korean shipbuilding entity, broadening its reach to South Korea, the world’s leading shipbuilding nation recognised for its advanced technological competitiveness and dominance in high-value added, ecofriendly shipbuilding orders. This strategic partnership signals a significant step forward in aligning industry leaders to achieve common decarbonisation goals, advancing the development and adoption of low- and zero-carbon solutions in the maritime sector.

An affiliate of Hanwha Group, Hanwha Ocean is committed to building the green energy value chain. By leveraging the Group’s existing strengths in energy and materials, such as hydrogen, wind power, LNG, and ammonia, combined with its expertise in energy production facilities and transportation, Hanwha Ocean is committed to using advanced technologies to develop decarbonisation solutions.

Complementary roles in the ammonia value chain

Hanwha Ocean and GCMD play complementary roles to support the ammonia value chain for the maritime sector. Hanwha Ocean is committed to developing ammonia-powered vessels, having recently partnered with sibling companies, Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Power Systems.

Meanwhile, GCMD has recently successfully completed a pair of ammonia transfers to showcase breakbulk and mimic bunkering operations between vessels at anchorage in the Pilbara region. This accomplishment paves the way for assessing the feasibility of ammonia bunkering in multiple ports when ammonia-fuelled vessels become available. Hanwha Ocean will be among the ecosystem of partners in GCMD’s initiative to enable key ports for this purpose.

Advancing onboard carbon capture and storage as a decarbonisation solution

Hanwha Ocean and GCMD are also contributing to advancements of onboard carbon capture and storage. Last year, the Korean Register and the Marshall Islands Registry granted Hanwha Ocean an Approval in Principle for their onboard carbon capture and storage technology set to be implemented on future LNG carriers.

GCMD, in collaboration with a consortium of maritime leaders, has recently released a report to assess the technical, operational and economic feasibility of installing a OCCS retrofit onboard an MR tanker to reducing emissions. The study finds that OCCS technology can reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 20% at a fuel penalty of 10%. In the interim, port readiness and infrastructure availability, as well well-defined regulations around offloading need to be addressed before OCCS can see wide adoption across the maritime industry.

GCMD and Hanwha Ocean are jointly committed to supporting the shipping industry in achieving IMO’s GHG emissions reduction targets. This new partnership will combine and leverage GCMD’s efforts to lower adoption barriers for decarbonisation solutions through pilots and trials with Hanwha Ocean’s ongoing innovations in green shipping technologies.

Professor Lynn Loo, CEO of GCMD, said, “With Hanwha Ocean joining us as a Strategic Partner, I am excited about our combined efforts to advance decarbonisation. Hanwha Ocean and GCMD are addressing different parts of the value chain, whether in enabling ammonia as a marine fuel or further closing gaps in the onboard carbon capture value chain. We look forward to co-learning with them, leveraging their expertise in our pilots to operationalise solutions, and leaning on their market leadership, to accelerate shipping’s efforts in this space.”

Young Chang (James) Shon, CTO of Hanwha Ocean, stated, “Hanwha is actively participating in every wave of green innovation, developing advanced technologies to provide carbon-neutral maritime solutions. The time for action is now, and we are fully committed to driving meaningful change. Embarking on this journey with GCMD excites us as we work together to realize a carbon-free future for shipping. Through this collaboration, not only will we contribute to environmental sustainability, but we will also create economic value for the maritime industry by paving the way for future-proof solutions.”