This is the first TradeWinds ShipTech newsletter, so firstly welcome. Every week I will collate the biggest stories we have covered in TradeWinds to offer insights into the business of technology and how it is playing a huge role in the transition of the industry.
In this week’s newsletter, we talk to HD Hyundai Marine Solution’s boss about the initial public offering of the division, which has a huge focus on retrofitting. We examine Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ confession that bad corporate culture led to engine emissions tampering.
We also hear from GTT about new LNG tank designs, and how technology can get you in trouble — as one officer learned when he was caught flying drones where they should not be flown.
Feel free to pass this page on to colleagues who may want to stay in touch with innovation, technology, digitalisation and key trends reshaping the tonnage at the centre of our industry.
Follow the link in the box below to sign up for the newsletter.
Craig Eason, TradeWinds technology editor
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HD Hyundai Marine Solution targets top slot as retrofits heat up
By Lucy Hine
It has been a big year for South Korean marine services provider HD Hyundai Marine Solution president and chief executive Ki-dong Lee.
HD Marine Solution was listed on the Korea Exchange in May 2024, with the heavily oversubscribed IPO proving to be the largest in the country since January 2022.
The listing raised KRW 742.2bn — then $538m — valuing the business at around KRW 3.71trn.
There are many CEOs but not all do an IPO in their working life, Lee told TradeWinds, “so it is quite an achievement”.
HD Marine Solution is just eight years old. It was set up by parent HD Hyundai Group in 2016 to offer products and services throughout a vessel’s lifespan. Today it provides aftercare services, eco-friendly retrofitting, software technology and bunkering services.
Lee, an HD Hyundai Heavy Industries lifer who was previously head of its engineering and machinery division, proudly recounts that company revenue has shot up almost sixfold from KRW 240bn in 2017 to KRW 1.4trn in 2023.
But it has even bigger ambitions, particularly in a sector where retrofits to meet decarbonisation targets and regulations are moving into sharp focus.
The CEO said the company wants to become the world’s number one in marine services and engineering. He claims HD Marine Solution is “unique”, with no competitors, as it offers the whole scope of after-market services — something he admitted was “not easy” to explain to investors during the IPO.
Lee, a mechanical engineer by training who joined what was then Hyundai Heavy Industries in 1985, said the company’s “major cash cow” is its parts and technical services, with trade in play with more than 500 companies worldwide.
But Lee said decarbonisation and conversion solutions are also in high demand.
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Kawasaki blames engine tampering on organisational dysfunction and lack of customer perspective
Kawasaki Heavy Industries has revealed more details about its engine tampering, putting part of the blame on corporate culture.
The Japanese engine maker and shipbuilder admitted earlier this year that it had found evidence of tampering during engine performance tests before delivery to shipyards.
In a statement in English, it said reporting or acknowledging incidents had been discouraged for many years, even if they were recognised as compliance violations.
It listed an organisational dysfunction regarding compliance and a sense that delivery times and profitability should be prioritised over quality.
A corporate culture that emphasised precedent over making improvements, even when it came to altering test data, was also highlighted.
Kawasaki said a “lack of customer perspective” led to “the justification of falsifying quality records”.
The company is one of a handful of Japanese engine makers that have been found to have meddled with engine tests before delivery to customers.
These factory or shop tests enable class societies and shipowners to see that ordered engines meet commercial and regulatory specifications.
In its latest announcement, Kawasaki confirmed that the results of 673 two-stroke engines had been adjusted.
This included altering fuel consumption test data, fuel consumption rates, exhaust gas temperature readings and intake temperatures to turbochargers.
Most of the engines with tampered data were built under license for international tonnage.
Read the full story (for free) here
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GTT books in dozen container ships with new LNG bunker tank design
by Lucy Hine
French cargo containment system designer GTT has booked 12 container ships that will be built with the first application of new design pressure for its Mark III Flex LNG bunker tanks.
GTT said that in collaboration with an Asian shipyard, it has been able to apply a 1 barg tank design pressure for a recently ordered series of boxships, without naming the yard or owner involved.
The company said the 1 barg pressure — a barg is the unit for measuring gauge pressure — compares to the current maximum of 0.7 barg.
GTT said it has already implemented a 2 barg design pressure on smaller capacity fuel tanks already in operation. But this is the first time a higher design pressure level can be applied on larger capacity tanks of over 3,000 cbm.
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Ship’s officer fined after flying drone over Norwegian port
by Paul Peachey
A ship’s officer has been fined and threatened with deportation from Norway after flying a drone over a commercial port where the vessel was berthed, insurance provider Gard said.
The arrest of the European national was the latest in a number of detentions in Norway for drone-related activities during the period of heightened tensions with Russia.
The officer and the vessel were not identified but he was said to be flying a personal drone. It was not clear if it was being flown for work-related purposes.
