South Korea amends regulations to support green shipping and shipbuilding efforts

August 21, 2025, by Sara Kosmajac

South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) has revised the rules on the standards and certification of environmentally friendly vessels to further promote and support sustainability-oriented efforts within the shipping and shipbuilding sectors.

Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje Shipyard in South Korea (for illustration purposes only); Source: Hanwha Ocean

As disclosed, the new rules, in effect from August 21, are expected to ‘strengthen’ the country’s vision of ensuring a ‘fully sustainable’ maritime industry. The rules were revised and (re)introduced jointly by MOF and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).

The new revisions to the guidelines, according to MOF, are as follows:

the scope of applicants for the eco-friendly certification has been expanded so that not only shipowners but also shipbuilders can obtain it;
the final certification can be granted even if it differs from the preliminary accreditation due to “unavoidable reasons” such as design changes;
the rules have been adapted to ‘better reflect internationally recognized standards, like the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) and the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII).

Speaking about this development, Seong-yong Choi, Deputy Director of the Safety Policy Division at MOF, highlighted: “Following the introduction of the eco-friendly equipment certification system last February, we expect that the demand for eco-friendly certification will increase significantly with the overall improvement and supplementation of this certification system.”

“The government will continue to promote measures such as acquisition tax reductions for eco-friendly certified ships (up to 2 percentage points) and construction financing support (up to 30% of shipbuilding costs) to take the lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping sector,” Choi added.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries enacted the eco-friendly vessel initiative to promote the adoption of sustainable vessels in December 2020; ever since MOF has been in charge of the certification process. As of July 2025, it is understood that a total of 119 vessels have been validated as environmentally forward.

As Deputy Director Choi has noted, in February 2025, South Korea amended the guidelines, not just for vessels but also expanding the scope to “green” equipment, such as onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS) and waste heat recovery solutions.

The February rules also envision granting the highest scores in certification evaluations for electric propulsion ships and other units that do not emit air pollutants like nitrogen oxides (NOx).

View on Offshore-energy.

That same month, in a bid to provide a further boost to green shipbuilding efforts in the country, the South Korean government revealed a plan to splash approximately KRW 222.3 billion (circa $152.89 million) on the construction (or conversion) of 81 units.

Within this public-private endeavor, as divulged at the time, the public sector would construct 34 eco-friendly ships, comprising electric-powered or hybrid vessels, while the private sphere would receive financial aid to build twenty more.

What is more, at the end of May 2025, MOF revised the standards for electric vessels, seeking to increase interest in ships powered by this technology.