The South Korean government announced a broad initiative to
encourage the development of eco-friendly shipping as well as to address marine
pollution issues. Discussed as part of a broader countrywide economic planning
session, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Industry
jointly committed to investing more than $870 million between 2022 and 2031 to
develop and promote innovative technology for eco-friendly ships.
Named the 2030 Green Ship-K Promotion Strategy it will be
linked to the policies of the country’s Green New Deal designed to achieve
carbon neutrality. To support the image of Korean eco-friendly shipping, the
plan targets the advancement of LNG, electricity, and hybrid core technologies
and the use of low carbon ship technology including mixed fuels. Among the
technologies being targeted are hydrogen and ammonia fuel cells and fuel
storage tanks as well as propulsion systems and fuel supply.
Supporting a comprehensive technology development program,
the plan will seek to develop technology leading to carbon-free shipping
systems including the use of hydrogen and ammonia. The Green Ship-K initiative
sets a goal of reducing shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent in
the next 25 years and by 70 percent in 2050.
The efforts call for a demonstration project named the
Greenship-K. This will start with the construction of small coastal ships with
eco-friendly technology and using these ships to verify the technology. They
believe that the technology will spread to larger ships for land and sea
verification and commercialization.
Included in the demonstration project will be the
construction of 10 ships, ranging from an LNG bunker ship by 2022 to an
LNG-ammonia mixed fuel propulsion ship by 2025. In total, they are calling for
constructing one LNG bunkering vessel, two electric propulsion ships, three
hybrid ships, two mixed fuel ships, and three hydrogen ships to establish the
pathway to eco-friendly shipping.
To also support the development of the technologies they are
calling for the construction of a multi-purpose demonstration vessel by 2023
and renovating an existing government ship by 2022. In total, 199 old
government ships will be replaced and 189 newer government ships will be
converted to eco-friendly technologies by 2030. With the use of a standardized
approach to the government ships, they expect that the construction costs can
be reduced by up to 20 percent for design and equipment purchasing.
The expertise developed in the efforts will the government
ships will also be used to expand eco-friendly technologies into commercial
shipping. The plan targets converting 58 international passenger ships and oil
tankers as well as 82 cargo ships. It is estimated that the conversion of a
total of 528 ships would generate as much as $4.5 billion in sales for South
Korea’s maritime industries.
Several initiatives were also outlined to support the
conversion to eco-friendly shipping. This includes expanding the infrastructure
to supply eco-friendly fuels, including LNG and electricity, and developing
fast charging facilities for small electric and hybrid ships. They will also
create a certification system for eco-friendly ships.
In a separate initiative outlined during the same
conferences, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries also set out a plan to reduce
marine plastics by more than half by 2030 by preventing marine debris and
expanding collection and disposal. This will include encouraging the
replacement of buoys with eco-floats, improving garbage collection on Korea’s
islands, and strengthening support to reduce marine litter. The plastic plan
also calls for the monitoring of microplastics including surveys of the
domestic coastal areas.
The government believes by implementing these programs it
can keep Korean industry at the forefront of the drive to create a sustainable
ecosystem and support the shipping, shipbuilding, and marine equipment
industries.