The Korean-controlled Philly Shipyard is gearing up to build the first LNG carriers in America since the 1970s.
Following last week’s announcement by the US Trade Representative (USTR) on port fees designed to boost American shipbuilding, Hanhwa Ocean, which bought Philly Shipyard last year, has said it will embark on a project to build gas ships in the US.
Under new guidelines from the USTR, LNG carriers are required to move 1% of US LNG exports on US-built, operated and flagged vessels within four years. That percentage would rise to 4% by 2035 and to 15% by 2047.
Only three of the 800 LNG carriers in the fleet today are US-built, all dating back to the 1970s.
Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), is one of the world’s top builders of LNG carriers, one of the harder, more complex commercial ship types to consrtruct.
Requiring the use of US-flagged ships for LNG exports has been branded unfeasible by the Washington DC-based lobby group Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG).
“This proposal is simply not feasible and would hinder US LNG competition with other global suppliers,” said CLNG executive director Charlie Riedl, adding: “Placing this kind of unnecessary requirement on the US LNG industry would hurt the industry’s ability to compete for growing international demand.”
