HMM, SIPG to cooperate on eco-friendly fuel

South Korea’s major ocean carrier HMM Co. announced on Wednesday that it signed a Shanghai Port Clean Marine Fuel memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China's Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG).

SIPG, a global terminal operator based in the world's largest port Shanghai Port, has been supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel to shipping companies worldwide since 2022 and is expanding facilities for methanol fuel supply in 2024.

Under the agreement, HMM plans to cooperate on supplying environmentally friendly ship fuels such as methanol and LNG at Shanghai Port in the future.

The global shipping industry is making various attempts in collaboration with stakeholders to achieve the goal of Carbon Neutrality by 2050, including the next-generation eco-friendly fuels. Methanol and LNG have been commercialized, with efforts underway to develop ammonia, hydrogen, and other fuels.

In February last year, HMM ordered nine 9,000-TEU eco-friendly container ships powered by methanol as the main fuel and plans to operate two 7,700-TEU LNG-powered vessels by the end of this year.

To achieve this, HMM has secured an environmentally friendly fuel supply network in China, following its existing networks in Busan and Singapore.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com