SHI completes LNG pilot test facility build

South Korean shipbuilder, Samsung Heavy Industries has completed its LNG pilot test facility at its Geoje yard.

The completion ceremony was attended by the likes of KOGAS, Celsius Shipping, Maran Gas Maritime, ENI and classification societies ABS, BV, DNV, KR, and LR.

Installed on land which is 3,630 square meters large, the facility will be the one and only R&D facility for LNG in the shipbuilding & offshore industry, which develops and tests core technologies for the LNG value chain from natural gas production, transportation, and storage to supply, SHI said in its statement on Wednesday.

The completion of the LNG test facility is expected to support advancement of innovative technologies, such as natural gas liquefaction and reliquefaction process, gas engine & fuelling system, cryogenic insulation storage container, regasification & cold power generation and localisation of LNG-related equipment as well.

Commenting on the launching of the facility, SHI CEO Jin-Taek Jung said, “Using the facility, SHI’s in-house innovative LNG technologies, such as SENSE-IV, the only natural gas liquefaction system in the shipbuilding industry and S-REGAS (CGR), the first-ever regasification system linked to power generation utilising cold energy were successfully developed. Our LNG pilot test facility will be a breakthrough in LNG technology innovation in line with our clients’ ESG goals.”

The shipyard noted it has so far received orders for more than 170 LNG carriers and designed and built the world’s first FLNG.

This year, it has won multiple deals to build LNG-fuelled vessels.