Hyundai Glovis to enter gas shipping market after striking deal with Trafigura
Hyundai Glovis, the logistics arm of Hyundai Group, announced on Sunday it will enter the gas shipping market in 2024 after striking a multi-year deal with major commodity trading company Trafigura.
The shipping deal with the Switzerland-based company will
see the Hyundai Glovis carry ammonia and liquefied natural gas for up to 10
years for global markets.
Two very large gas carriers (VLGC), which boast 86,000
square meters in capacity, will be built with 200 billion won ($173.2 million)
in investment, the company said.
Unlike LPG carriers, the cargo holds of Hyundai Glovis VLGCs
are made with special materials to allow for carrying ammonia –- a feature only
around 10 percent of VLGCs around the world have, the company explained.
Trafigura is one of the world’s largest commodities trading
houses by turnover. In 2020, it raked up some 173 trillion won in revenue and
3.4 trillion won in operating profit.
The move marks the company’s shift towards new sectors which
has previously focused on car carrier ships.
With liquefied hydrogen carriers yet to be commercialized,
ammonia has emerged as an effective way of carrying hydrogen for the company,
from which hydrogen can be extracted after being transported.
Hyundai Glovis also reaffirmed its efforts to build a
hydrogen value chain.
“We have proved our competitiveness in the gas shipping
industry through a long-term deal with a global commodity trading company,” an
official at Hyundai Glovis said.
“We will also see the process of building a hydrogen value
chain gather speed. We plan to carry liquefied hydrogen and take lead in global
hydrogen distribution.”
In a world first, Hyundai Glovis and Hyundai Heavy
Industries Group’s basic design for a 20,000-cubic-meter commercial liquefied
hydrogen carrier won approval in principle (AIP) from the Korean Register of
Shipping and the Liberian Registry last October.
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