Samsung Heavy Industries has started to pursue a "super-gap strategy" in LNG technology by completing an integrated LNG pilot test facility.
The company held a ceremony to mark the completion of the "Integrated Shipbuilding and Offshore LNG Pilot Test Facility" at its Geoje Shipyard in South Gyeongsang Province on May 12.
On hand at the ceremony were those from major domestic and foreign clients such as Celsius of Denmark, Maran of Greece, ENI of Italy, and world-class ship classification organizations such as ABS, BV, DNV, KR and LR. They showed a big interest in the pilot test facility.
Ground was broken for the pilot test facility in July 2019. It is built on the premise of the company's Geoje Shipyard.
The center is the world's only center designed to develop and validate core shipbuilding and offshore structure technologies related to each stage of the LNG value chain from production to transportation, storage and distribution.
Using the pilot test center, Samsung Heavy Industries plans to beef up its market dominance by widening technological gaps in eco-friendly ships such as LNG carriers and LNG-fueled vessels.
Samsung Heavy Industries has a track record of having built more than 170 LNG carriers, about one-third of the LNG carriers ever built around the world. It has also built the world's first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility. "We have been leading technology development in the shipbuilding and offshore LNG market," a company official said.
