LR & HHI Join Hands Unlocking The Value Of Applying Blockchain To Maritime

The leading international maritime trade fair taking place 4-7 September in Hamburg, Germany – LR announced a co-operation project with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), to explore the value of blockchain when applied to shipbuilding.

Following the announcement of the IMO’s SOx emission limitations from 2020 and increased developments in the global supply of gas, there has been a growing demand for innovative and environmentally friendly designs to replace traditional oil-fuelled ship designs. In response to this, HHI has been focusing its efforts on LNG-fuelled ships as part of its plans to meet the market’s needs for environmentally friendly shipping. Anangel, Woodside, LR and HHI commenced a joint development project (JDP) last year to develop an LNG-fuelled 250,000 dwt VLOC design optimised for the trade route from North West Australia to North Asia, based on the XDF engine. The JDP’s main objective is to achieve the lowest practical incremental capital and operating costs to help LNG as a fuel compete against other post-2020 compliance options for bulk carriers. Anangel as the ship owner and operator provided practical advice on the design concept from its extensive fleet operation experience. Woodside as the LNG supplier provided information on the outlook for LNG bunkering infrastructure in the region and outlook for LNG against other fuels. LR facilitated the high-level hazard identification (HAZID) in order to identify the major hazards and verify the safety of the vessel design. HHI completed the optimised design of the VLOC with the LNG-fuelled system, and LR provided class approval and issued AiP to HHI.

Read more: What Is Bunkering In Ships?

Recently all JDP members reviewed an in-depth economic evaluation of the LNG-fuelled system against a wide range of ultra-low sulphur marine fuel oil prices to assess the competitiveness of LNG-fuelled bulk carriers and exchange ideas on what could be done to help advance the use of LNG as a fuel. The preliminary results show promise for LNG as a fuel opportunities. The parties are now discussing the potential for a further phase of the JDP, including additional partners, in order to increase the feasibility and attractiveness of LNG as a fuel through new technologies, reduced capital cost and increased

Earlier this week LR announced the launch of its prototype blockchain-enabled Class register – the first demonstrator that can register ships into Class using blockchain technology. Luis Benito, LR Innovation & Co-creation Director Marine & Offshore commented: “We have subsequently identified that the value this could deliver could be extended to benefit all stakeholders, starting with the shipbuilder.”

He continued, “We are delighted that HHI is joining us on this innovation journey. We see this as a potential new way to manage the entire multi-stakeholder chain related to shipbuilding, in a way that it will become more effective and efficient for all involved, setting a new best practice standard in our industry.”

Hong-Ryeul Ryu, Vice President at HHI commented: “We are glad to explore blockchain technology with LR to find out the value for new building. We expect blockchain project enables us to ensure that our project planning and initial designing work are more efficient. All relevant information is traceable, demonstrable, transparent, recorded in a way therefore all parties can trust that activities happened in the prescribed way and the outcome of such activity conforms to requirements of the contract.”

Press Releases: lr.org

Photo Courtesy: lr.org