Asia/Pacific News
South Korea Commits $153 Million for LNG and Electric Vessel Construction
South Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has announced plans to allocate funds for the construction and retrofitting of 81 ships, including those powered by LNG and electricity.
Under the 2025 Implementation Plan for Environment-Friendly Ship Distribution, the government plans to invest about KRW 222.3 billion ($153 million), the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.
The funds will support the construction of 54 new vessels and the retrofitting of 27 existing ones, with investments distributed between the public and private sectors.
In the public sector, the government will allocate funds to support the construction of 34 ships, including electric-powered vessels, and provide funding to retrofit 15 ships with diesel particulate filters (DPF) to cut fine dust emissions.
For the private sector, support will be directed toward building 20 new LNG and electricity-powered ships. Additionally, financial assistance will be provided to 12 vessels to install equipment to reduce emissions.
This latest announcement comes shortly after South Korea unveiled a KRW 1 trillion ($697 million) fund last month to accelerate the development of LNG and ammonia bunkering infrastructure in the country.
"We will make generous investments in small and medium-sized shipping companies to convert into environment-friendly ships, drastically reduce greenhouse gases in the shipping industry, and proactively respond to strengthening international decarbonization regulations," Kang Do-hyung, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, said in the statement.
