South Korea News

Australia will partner with India to boost investment in renewable energy, including solar manufacturing, battery and mineral processing, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a meeting with his Indian counterpart on the G20 sidelines.Australia and India will also look to enhance defense and maritime security cooperation, Albanese said in a meeting with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.The two countries, along with the United States and Japan, are members of the Quad, which has sought to balance China's rising military and economic clout in the Indo Pacific r

As world-reaction to Donald Trumps presidential win continues to come in, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said he is "strongly confident" the South Korea-U.S. alliance will continue to thrive under the incoming U.S. administration of President-elect Donald Trump.While there are many tendrils to the economic and defense alliance, in particular in recent years, South Korea's world-class shipbuilders have drawn increasingly close to their U.S. counterparts, as the U.S.

At least five cargoes of LNG have diverted from Asia to Europe in the past few days, drawn by higher gas prices on the continent after Russia's Gazprom halted supplies to Austria's OMV, data from analytics firm Kpler showed.On Saturday Gazprom halted supplies to top Austrian gas importer OMV after OMV threatened to impound some of the Russian state firm's gas as compensation for an arbitration it had won over a contractual dispute.Gazprom notified OMV of the planned halt on Friday…

Soaring costs, project delays and limited investment put targets out of reachAfter a year of canceled projects, broken turbines, and abandoned lease sales, the global offshore wind industry no longer has much chance to hit the lofty targets set by governments in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere ... with the exception of China.Reuters spoke to 12 offshore wind companies, industry researchers, trade associations, and government officials in six countries to come up with a global picture of the state of the industry and its outlook…

U.S., Japanese and South Korean naval forces exercised together in East Asian waters on Thursday in their most complex and final joint drills before President Joe Biden hands over one of his signature national security initiatives to Donald Trump.Led by the USS George Washington carrier and its jet fighters, the Freedom Edge naval exercise in waters south of the Korean peninsula and west of Japan's main islands comes after a pact brokered by Biden in 2023 in which Seoul and Tokyo…

Marine safety solutions provider VIKING Life-Saving Equipment and firefighting systems supplier FAIN have signed an exclusive worldwide agreement for VIKING to provide certified services for marine fire systems and equipment delivered and installed by FAIN.FAIN supplies the full spectrum of firefighting systems for marine use, including CO2, foam, DP, water-mist, sprinkler, alternative gases and more.Headquartered in Yangsan, South Korea, the company is a major supplier to shipyards in China…

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke with Donald Trump on Thursday and congratulated him on winning the U.S. presidency on the "Make America Great Again" slogan as officials in Seoul worked to prepare for "significant" economic changes.Yoon and Trump held a 12-minute phone call and discussed the close security and economic ties of their two countries across all areas, a senior South Korean official said on Thursday.South Korea's ambassador to the United States also visited Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida to meet with members of the president-elect's camp…

Avance Gas has delivered the first very large gas carrier (VLGC) to BW LPG, marking the start of deliveries of total 12 vessels as part of $1.05 billion agreement signed earlier in 2024.Avance Gas concluded sale and delivery of the first VLGC, the 2015-built non-scrubber ship Chinook, to BW LPG on November 1, 2024.As part of the transaction, 1.35 million shares in BW LPG have been issued to Avance Gas corresponding to approximately 1% ownership share.The vessel is currently on…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has signed an agreement with Singapore LNG Corporation, Singapore's state-owned LNG terminal operator, on a long-term time charter contract for one newbuilding floating storage regasification unit (FSRU).The FSRU will be built at Hanwha Ocean in South Korea. After delivery, planned for 2027, MOL will own, manage, and operate the FSRU.The 200,000 m3 FSRU will be moored at the Jurong Port in Singapore, and will play a central role in receiving, storing and regasifying LNG…

The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and Hanwha Ocean have announced a five-year strategic partnership to advance low and zero carbon fuels, energy efficiency technologies and onboard carbon capture.The GCMD was established as a non-profit organization in 2021 founded by BHP, BW Group, Eastern Pacific Shipping, Foundation Det Norske Veritas, Ocean Network Express and Seatrium. GCMD also receives funding from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), and bp…

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) led the 16th Joint Oil Spill Exercise (JOSE) on October 11 and tested new oil spill response technologies.Over 100 personnel from 18 agencies and companies participated in JOSE 2024, which included a table-top exercise and a seaward deployment exercise at the Western Anchorage, off Pasir Panjang Terminal.Terminal operators on Jurong Island and Pulau Bukom activated their emergency protocols and deployed craft to spray dispersants. Protective booms were also deployed.MPA also tested new technologies which could support oil spill response.

U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports began reopening late on Thursday after dockworkers and port operators reached a wage deal to settle the industry's biggest work stoppage in nearly half a century, but clearing the cargo backlog will take time.The strike ended sooner than investors had expected, weakening shipping stocks across Asia on Friday as freight rates were no longer expected to surge.At least 54 container ships queued outside the ports as the strike had prevented unloading and threatened shortages of anything from bananas to auto parts.

UK naval architecture company Chartwell Marine has announced its expansion into the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region with the hire of Fabien Lecuona.Lecuona brings over 13 years of experience in APAC maritime and has worked in multiple industries throughout his career, including maritime electronics and engine manufacturing. Within his new role, Lecuona will focus on business development, fostering industry partnerships and promoting Chartwell Marine’s innovative and low-carbon vessel designs.

Classification society DNV has awarded Hanwha Ocean Type Approval Design Certification (TADC) for its innovative rotor sail technology, the first certification of a rotor sail approved for installation in hazardous zones in South Korea.The TADC confirms that Hanwha Ocean's Rotor Sail, designed with composite materials, is in line with DNV and international safety standards, guidelines and regulations and ready for practical application on commercial vessels. The certification process involved detailed design reviews and assessments…

Canada is in discussions about joining an expanded AUKUS deal between the U.S., Britain, and Australia formed to counter China's growing military influence in the Asia Pacific region, Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair said.Canada has said it wants to join a second pillar of AUKUS that will collaborate on new military technologies, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing, but has not so far revealed any details of those talks."There have been important discussions about processes and platforms on a project-specific basis on where other nations…

Ammonia-to-power solutions company Amogy announced it is teaming up with a group of industry partners to explore the technological feasibility of an innovative offshore ammonia cracking solution aimed at delivering low-cost, accessible clean hydrogen fuel.The consortium will focus on developing an Offshore Ammonia Cracking Solution technology. HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) will design the ammonia supply system and integrate it into the overall system, Amogy will provide its ammonia-cracking technology…

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un underscored the importance of strengthening naval power as he toured a naval base construction site, state media KCNA reported on Sunday."Now that we are soon to possess large surface warships and submarines which cannot be anchored by the existing facilities for mooring warships, the construction of a naval base for running the latest large warships has become a pressing task," Kim was quoted saying.During the tour, Kim stressed the need to build…

Avikus on Friday announced it is working toward gaining word-first DNV Type Approval for its innovative autonomous vessel systems.The South Korea-based marine technology company said it cemented its partnership with classification society DNV with an agreement signed this week at the SMM maritime trade fair in Hamburg, Germany.Avikus said it is progressing through DNV’s System Qualification process for its autonomous navigation system, HiNAS Control, under DNV-CG-0264 and relevant international standards.

A rare cruise by two German warships in the Indo-Pacific region will demonstrate a commitment to open navigation, the admiral in charge of the naval task force said on Friday, but he declined to confirm if they would transit the contested Taiwan Strait."Safe and secure sea lanes, especially from Southeast Asia as well as to Europe and America, are a prerequisite for a prosperous economy of all our countries," Rear Admiral Axel Schulz said in a speech to a reception held on the…

Representing a breakthrough in the evolution of a ship’s propeller shaft line, Canada’s Thordon Bearings has unveiled the Thordon-Blue Ocean Stern Space (T-BOSS), a new solution designed to meet the propeller shaft requirements of the sterntubeless ship design proposed by the Blue Ocean Alliance.The Blue Ocean Alliance is a consortium of industry partners – ABS, Thordon Bearings Inc, Wärtsilä, SDARI, and the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) – that have collaborated…

Hanwha Ocean on Wednesday announced it has secured a contract that makes it the first Korean shipbuilder to provide maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for the U.S. Navy.The 40,000-ton U.S. Navy dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Wally Schirra is undergoing maintenance and inspection at Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje shipyard, with additional onshore maintenance work being conducted using the shipyard’s floating facilities.The MRO contract requires a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) certification, which Hanwha Ocean earned in July 2024. The certification, granted by the U.S.

As two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups patrolled the Indian Ocean this week in an explicit effort to deter Iran from striking Israel and sparking a major regional conflict, a very different military messaging effort was underway in a luxury conference centre in Manila.The 35th annual Military Law and Operations Conference organised by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command – running from Aug. 27-30 – is held every year in a different country in the region – but its presence in the capital of the Philippines this week was likely far from a coincidence.Since late 2023…

As two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups patrolled the Indian Ocean this week in an explicit effort to deter Iran from striking Israel and sparking a major regional conflict, a very different military messaging effort was underway in a luxury conference centre in Manila.The 35th annual Military Law and Operations Conference organised by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command – running from Aug. 27-30 – is held every year in a different country in the region – but its presence in the capital of the Philippines this week was likely far from a coincidence.Since late 2023…