HD Hyundai collaborates with Shell to develop large liquefied hydrogen carriers

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), HD Hyundai’s shipbuilding holding company signed an MOU on the development of a marine transportation system for liquid hydrogen (LH2) with major Australian energy company Woodside Energy, and global shipping companies, Hyundai Glovis, and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL).

Since 2022, HD KSOE has been jointly studying marine transportation of liquefied hydrogen with Woodside Energy and Hyundai Glovis based on energy export and import, and ship operations.
As MOL newly joins this agreement, HD KSOE expects that the company’s decades-long experience in the transportation of liquefied natural gas will advance the current global hydrogen transportation solution to the next level.

HD Hyundai announced that it will be collaborating with leading Korean, Australian, and Japanese companies to pioneer the global hydrogen transportation market.

Based on this agreement, all four parties will be working on the development of a safe, flexible, and efficient marine shipping transportation system by 2030.

HD KSOE will be developing a technical and commercially feasible large liquefied carrier by 2030. The company has been acknowledged for its advanced technological competence in hydrogen ships with South Korea’s first hybrid engine that uses liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen in 2022, and its Approval in Principle (AIP) awarded by DNV for developing a proprietary hydrogen system for large liquefied hydrogen carriers in 2023.

Woodside Energy will be in charge of the business development of liquid hydrogen. Woodside Energy has been constantly working on a global energy supply chain with efforts such as the non-binding Heads of Agreement (HOA) with Keppel Data Centres to evaluate the potential supply of liquid hydrogen to Singapore.

Hyundai Glovis and MOL will be responsible for key technology qualification and studies on the operational feasibility of the hydrogen shipping solution.

“HD KSOE will be fulfilling its role as a frontrunner in the liquid hydrogen shipping supply chain with its technological competence and years-long experience in building gas carriers. This collaboration will be important in many aspects as it will not only be a chance to develop technologies but also discover actual business opportunities going forward. “ said Dr. Kwangpil Chang.