The Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (“KRISO” hereinafter, President Suh, Sang-hyun) will join forces with the public and private sectors as well as academic institutions to secure a new growth engine. KRISO will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with 14 public, research, academic, and business organizations and associations to jointly develop LNG bunkering infrastructure through public-private partnership on Monday, July 25 at Jade Room, Lotte Hotel Ulsan. * Participating institutions and organizations (14): KRISO, Ulsan Metropolitan City, Ulsan Port Authority, Korea Gas Corporation, Korea Gas Technology Corporation, University of Ulsan, Korea LNG Bunkering Industry Association, Hyundai Heavy Industries, SK Shipping, Energy Innovation Partners (EIP), Korea LNG Solution, NK, Daechang Solution, and Unisys International * LNG Bunkering: Injection of LNG as fuel for ships As the International Maritime Organization (IMO) imposes more stringent regulations on emissions from ships, LNG is gaining attention as a source of clean fuel for ships. Already, LNG bunkering is being implemented in some areas designated for emission control (known as “emission control areas (ECAs)”) in Europe and North America. Vigorous implementation of LNG bunkering will also lead to greater demands for LNG fueled ships, which is expected to energize the domestic ship building industry that has been undergoing a slowdown lately. As such, the need for promoting the LNG bunkering business as a new growth engine for the shipbuilding and offshore plant industry has risen steadily. To meet this need, related organizations such as KRISO, Ulsan Metropolitan City, Ulsan Ports Authority, and Korea Gas Corporation put together a taskforce team for LNG Bunkering at Ulsan Port from early this year in order to carry out basic research on LNG bunkering, establish mid- to long-term plans to promote the Ulsan Port LNG bunkering project, and to discuss ways for cooperation among the organizations involved. The MOU will be signed as a way to strengthen the project’s capacity for implementation and to foster mutual cooperation among the participating organizations. Under this MOU, the LNG bunkering project’s scope will include establishment of LNG bunkering infrastructure at Ulsan Port, planning and technical analysis for building a floating LNG bunkering terminal (FLBT), and development of materials, equipment, and systems to support LNG bunkering. The MOU defines respective roles for each of the 14 participating organizations so that the competencies and capabilities from each of the organizations will be combined and maximized for successful completion of this project. The agreement for cooperation will be effective for three years after the MOU signing. Director Seong Hong-geun of Offshore Plant Research Department at KRISO said, “By 2020, LNG fueled ships will account for almost 10% of all newly built ships, and the market for bunkering will reach over 5 trillion KRW. Considering this, the signing of the MOU among related organizations and private businesses to build LNG bunkering at Ulsan Port will be an opportunity to secure a new growth engine for the domestic shipbuilding and offshore plant industry, and will pave the way for successful completion of this project.

- Hwang Ho-jin, Senior Researcher at KRISO, developed an “integrated solution for simulation-based production for ships and offshore plants” - □ The Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (“KRISO” hereinafter, President Suh, Sang-hyun) successfully developed an integrated solution for simulation-based production exclusively for ships and offshore plants. The new solution is expected to help solidify Korea’s position to become the world’s leader in shipbuilding and offshore plants. □ KRISO announced that the solution, whose development was led by Senior Researcher Hwang Ho-jin, had been selected as one of the 100 outstanding R&D achievements in 2016 by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) of Korea. ◦ Since 2006, MSIP has been selecting and awarding 100 outstanding R&D projects each year to boost the self-esteem of those in the fields of science and technology and to promote the achievements of national R&D efforts, as well as to raise awareness among the public on the importance of science and technology. □ This year, KRISO had the honor of becoming a five-time winner of the award for producing outstanding R&D outcomes since 2006. KRISO, as a government-funded institute dedicated to research on ships and offshore plants, has been performing a leading role in technology development in relevant fields while contributing to the development of the ships and offshore plant industry. Former winners of the award are as follows: ※ 1) 2006 / Development of the Deep-sea Unmanned Underwater Vehicle for Oceanographic Research and Survey / Lee Pan-mook 2) 2008 / Development of Two-Way Underwater Communication Handset / Lim Yong-kon 3) 2008 / Development of Oil Recovery Technique from a Sunken Ship / Choi Hyeok-jin 4) 2013 / Verification of Korea’s First Large-Scale Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage / Heo Cheol □ Hwang had worked on the project to develop the integrated solution for simulation-based production exclusively for ships and offshore plants for five years from April 2010 before it was selected as one of 100 winners for this year in the information and electronics category. □ This integrated solution identifies potential issues through simulation and addresses them beforehand to ensure efficient and safe building of ships and offshore plants. The outcomes of this research are anticipated to help foster a safe environment for production and shipbuilding, and will bring about cost savings, enhanced productivity, and shorter shipbuilding time through validation of new shipbuilding techniques. □ This research, in which five institutes and businesses including Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction participated, has produced significant outcomes: 40 patent applications and 7 patent registrations have been made so far, while 62 research papers have been published and one technology transfer project has been completed. □ “Due to the nature of the shipbuilding and offshore plant industry that involves heavy and large-size facilities, an accident due to engineering error or miscalculation could result in massive casualties and financial losses. We can now identify potential issues through simulation and solve them beforehand, thereby preventing accidents from happening,” says Hwang. He added, “Plans are underway to conduct a follow-up research project to tailor the system to small- to medium-sized shipyards that are undergoing difficulties due to a recession in the shipbuilding industry, in conjunction with other projects designed to support small and medium businesses.” □ The award ceremony for the winners of the outstanding research outcomes in 2016 will be held this Thursday on the 7th at 14:00 at the Imagination Hall on the ground floor of the Gwacheon National Science Museum.

– The “2016 Human-Solar Boats Festival”, in its 18th year since the first event in 1999, celebrates human power and solar energy as non-polluting energy sources to promote marine leisure and environmental protection □ Korea’s one and only water festival for science and technology will be held on August 4 (Thu) – 5 (Fri), 2016 at the Gapcheon Stream, Daejeon (in front of Daejeon MBC, downstream of Daedeok Bridge). □ Co-hosted by the Society of Naval Architects of Korea (President Bahn Seok-ho), the Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (“KRISO” hereinafter, President Suh, Sang-hyun), and the College of Engineering, Chungnam National University (Dean Seo Dong-il), the two-day festival will be joined by 16 human boat teams and 7 solar boat teams. The event will feature four types of competition – short-distance speed race, 5,000 meter long-distance race, rowing, and a design contest. ※ Human boat: Also known as a water bicycle, run by human power ※ Solar boat: Powered by solar energy to run an electric motor to propel the boat □ In its 18th year since 1999, the annual human-solar boat festival is organized under the theme of human power and solar energy as non-polluting energy sources. During the event, human powered boats and solar boats that were designed and created by college students majoring in shipbuilding and marine engineering all over the country will showcase their respective performance. It will be an excellent opportunity to witness future shipbuilding engineers’ passion and ambition. □ A total of 23 teams in three categories – hydrofoil human powered boats, displacement-type human powered boats, and solar boats – will compete over boat speed performance, driving performance, durability, and team players’ skills during this event, which is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Minister Joo Hyung-hwan) and the Korea Sanhak Foundation (Chief Director Kim In-ho), Korean shipbuilders (Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Hanjin Heavy Industries TMS), and related agencies (Daejeon Metropolitan City Sports Association, Korea Register of Shipping, and Research Institute of Medium & Small Shipbuilding). □ Year after year, participants from all over the country who major in shipbuilding and marine engineering have shown exciting and spirited efforts, and this year will be no exception. We are looking forward to seeing vigor, enthusiasm, and highly spirited competition displayed once again by the young participants who are preparing for a bright future despite recent economic hardships both at home and abroad. □ Kim In-ho, Chief Director of the Korea Sanhak Foundation, which sponsors this annual event, remarked, “Despite difficult times in and out of Korea, it is highly important to continue to invest in cultivation of talented individuals in order to prepare for the future. I hope young people studying shipbuilding and marine engineering will have not only hopes for the future but also capabilities as professionals in this field to serve as a strong pillar supporting our nation in the future. The Korea Sanhak Foundation will spare no efforts to support educational programs to that end.” □ President Suh Sang-hyun of KRISO, which organized this event, said, “Training younger students is a way to keep our pride as a powerful nation in shipbuilding and marine engineering, and to carry over the country’s legacy to the next generation even during difficult times like now. Above all, it is of utmost importance to create an opportunity for young people studying shipbuilding and marine engineering to nurture their capabilities as competent professionals of the future. I sincerely hope that the event, already in its 18th year, will continue as a venue for cultivating talented individuals in the field of shipbuilding and marine engineering.”

- KRISO signs an MOU with MARITEK of Norway - □ The Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (“KRISO” hereinafter, President Suh, Sang-hyun) joins hand in hand with a world-renowned research institute to help Korea surge as a powerful nation in offshore plant construction technology. □ KRISO and the Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute (“MARINTEK,” hereinafter, Director Oddvar Inge Eide) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to pursue cooperation and joint research on the 20th at the KRISO office in Yuseong, Daejeon, with key members of the two institutes in attendance. ※ KRISO: Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering ※ MARINTEK : Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute □ MARINTEK, established as a research institute for ships in 1951, has been providing R&D services in the marine technology field for over six decades. A leading research institute in the fields of offshore plants and marine energy, MARINTEK is currently building the Ocean Space Centre to strengthen its capacity for developing marine technology involving marine resources, energy, and weather. □ MARINTEK has shown great interest in the deep-sea offshore engineering basin being built by KRISO in Saenggok Industrial Complex of Busan, and entered into the MOU with KRISO in order to pursue joint technological development by sharing technologies related to the basin’s construction and each other’s experiment facilities. ◦ The deep-sea offshore engineering basin (100m long, 50m wide, and 15m deep), to be completed in 2018, will become the world’s largest experiment facility for offshore plants that can reproduce 3,000 meter-deep sea environment, and is a key infrastructure needed for research and development (R&D) in offshore plant design and performance evaluation. □ The two institutes will carry out joint research in the fields of ships, offshore plants, and marine energy, while also implementing joint R&D projects between Korea and Norway. In addition, they will promote exchange of human resources and develop training programs for researchers at both institutes, which will contribute to establishing an international network of cooperation among research personnel and nurturing highly-skilled researchers in the technology field. ◦ Furthermore, through cooperation with MARINTEK, which works closely with the world’s leading shipowners and engineering companies in Norway, KRISO hopes to gain a better understanding of the NORSOK standards, a set of very strict standards imposed by the Norwegian marine industry, and of European clients, and share this valuable information with Korean shipbuilders to help them develop technologies for related material and equipment, and find a way to overcome the ongoing economic hardship. □ KRISO President Suh Sang-hyun said, “The MOU with MARINTEK will contribute to shifting Korean shipbuilding and marine industry’s focus on shipbuilding technology to design engineering technology to ensure Korea’s growth as a leading country of technology in this field. We hope that the two institutes will benefit from this mutual cooperation, which will help promote vigorous technology development and enhance our respective R&D capabilities.”

□ Due to ongoing population growth and intensifying urbanization around the world, the need for developing marine resources as a way to address growing demand for energy and resources is being emphasized. The offshore plant industry manufactures, builds, installs, and operates equipment and facilities that are needed to commercialize various marine resources including oil and gas, minerals, and new and renewable energy. Despite its dramatic growth in the mid- to late 2000s, the domestic offshore plant industry is undergoing a crisis due to continuing losses in recent years. On the surface, such losses appear to have been caused by a lack of work resulting from fewer orders, but in reality, the current crisis was actually caused by the three major shipbuilders’ lack of front-end engineering & design (FEED) capabilities, which has led to extension of delivery dates on their respective offshore plant orders. □ To address this lack of high value-added, essential technological capabilities, the Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (“KRISO” hereinafter, President Suh, Sang-hyun) established the Advanced Technology Engineering Center (“ATEC,” hereinafter) last year. ATEC, temporarily housed at Pukyong National University, will eventually have a permanent address in Saenggok District, Gangseo-Gu, Busan. The center, in which a total of 50 billion KRW will be invested by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, KRISO, and Busan Metropolitan City using the government expenditure, Busan municipal government expenditure and private funds, is expected to serve not only as a key infrastructure to support offshore plant business creation but also as a world-class research foundation for offshore plant engineering in Korea, which will promote collaborative projects between overseas engineering companies and Korean large companies, small and medium businesses, and research institutes. □ In an effort to strengthen Korea’s technological competitiveness in the offshore plant engineering field, ATEC is striving to raise the level of human resources to match that of global engineering firms. Already, the center has recruited several engineers from the US and the UK in March, and is steadily bringing in outstanding researchers one after another. The newly recruited are veteran engineers of the offshore plant industry who have worked in various parts of the industry ranging from project planning and order winning, design, and technology application process to equipment. They will team up with entry-level or mid-level engineers to play a leading role in their respective teams to win orders for offshore plant projects from oil majors overseas. Also, by jointly developing mega-scale offshore plant projects with global engineering firms, ATEC will spread the projects to domestic shipyards, engineering firms, and equipment manufacturers in order to create new business opportunities for the domestic industry and to realize domestic engineering independence. In other words, ATEC aims to realize its vision of “making inroads into new markets,” “fostering a sustainable, industrial ecosystem,” and “creating more jobs” by working together with global engineering firms. □ To this end, KRISO signed a memorandum of understanding with Lloyds Energy based in Dubai to jointly carry out a coastal marine liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on May 13, with a view to invigorate the domestic offshore plant industry and to achieve technological independence. The coastal marine LNG project involves installation and transport of a coastal floating LNG (FLNG) facility that will receive natural gas from Russian inlands and neighboring Far Eastern regions, the Baltic Sea, and Black Sea through pipelines and to transport it in a liquefied form. □ Lloyds Energy proposed the Korean Industry Participation Plan (KIPP) to ensure Korea’s industrial development. Under this plan, Korea's own equipment will be used for 35%-50% of the project, and Korean engineering techniques will account for 10-50% of what will be applied to each FLNG. With this MOU, the Korean shipbuilding and offshore plant industry is planning to build several FLNGs in sequence. ATEC will share the same level of owners’ engineering as that of the project owner, and to carry out KIPP, it will also oversee design, identify domestic equipment suppliers suitable for the project, and perform pre-qualification (PQ). ATEC and Lloyds Energy are expecting that the Korean offshore plant industry will be energized with about 10,000 jobs created over 5 years. In addition, the two parties anticipate that this project will be a foundation to jointly win and operate coastal FLNG projects in other parts of the world in the future. □ The cooperation will serve as a crucial opportunity for Korea to establish a foundation to become a leading country of technology in the offshore plant industry with unparalleled technological prowess, as the MOU will pave the way for Korea to not only nurture high-tech talented individuals and create employment, but it will also allow the country to achieve technological independence in the engineering field and to strengthen its competitiveness. There is a saying, “Opportunities are found in times of crisis.” In the midst of a crisis affecting the entire shipbuilding and offshore plant industry of Korea, ATEC of KRISO is a hope that will spark new opportunities to enhance the fundamental quality of the offshore plant industry.  

– KRISO will transfer its high temperature difference, ocean thermal energy conversion (H-OTEC) technology to a private company, to be utilized for new offshore plant export and official development assistance (ODA) –  □ The Korean government is busy making preparations to provide policy support to the new and renewable energy field in response to the launch of the post-2o2o climate regime under the Paris Agreement adopted last year. ○ Against this backdrop, the Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (“KRISO” hereinafter, President Suh, Sang-hyun) under the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology garnered much attention when it signed a contract on March 4 to transfer its technology to generate energy using high temperature difference, ocean thermal energy conversion (H-OTEC) to a private company. □ H-OTEC is a complex high temperature difference generation technology that uses deep and surface seawater as a thermal probe, and unused heat such as geothermal heat and industrial waste heat as a heat source to circulate a working fluid into a cycle to generate electricity. The Seawater Utilization Plant Research Center (Director Kim Hyun-joo) succeeded in developing this technology. □ Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) is a method to generate electricity by repeating a process of evaporating ammonia that vaporizes at a low temperature and then chilling the vapor into a liquid state with cold deep seawater. The pressure difference occurring during this process is used to run a turbine for power generation. ○ Meanwhile, H-OTEC uses cold deep seawater or coastal bottom water as a heat probe in the same generation cycle described above, but offers much higher generation efficiency as it uses geothermal heat, solar heat, or waste heat from industrial processes as a heat source. □ The H-OTEC plant developed by KRISO uses an oil-less bearing system to which a highly efficient, radial inflow turbine and air bearing are applied, and has acquired a high generation efficiency rating (7.7%) from performance testing by a certified agency. ○ Five 200 kW-grade, H-OTEC plants will be installed side-by-side for operation, which is expected to help Korea respond better to climate change by generating 8,322 MWh of new and renewable energy annually to replace 1,756 TOE of oil and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3,759 tons annually. * TOE (Tonnage of Oil Equivalent): Energy generated from burning one ton of oil. 1 TOE is 10,000 kal. □ KRISO, a government-funded research arm under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, succeeded in developing a 200 kW-grade H-OTEC system using Korea’s own technology through industry-university-institute collaboration in 2014. □ Director Kim of the Seawater Utilization Plant Research Center remarked, “H-OTEC can be put into practical use in Korea where it is easy to take advantage of deep seawater or coastal bottom water by using waste heat from the industrial processes and incineration heat. It also has great potential to address power shortage in equatorial island nations blessed with plenty of thermal heat and solar heat. This technology can be utilized not only in the export of new offshore plants to meet the demands arising from the new climate change regime but also as a way to provide ODA to island nations in the Pacific Ocean.”

– Opening up new possibilities for the commercialization of technology for mining deep-sea mineral resources – The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Minister Kim Young-suk) announced that it has developed a lifting system that transports manganese nodules collected from the deep seabed to a mining ship on the surface of the water, and successfully conducted verification testing at sea. Performed jointly by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology and the Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO) from December 14 to 24, 2015, the test was held 35 kilometers from shore northeast of Guryongpo, Nam-gu, Pohang City, at a depth of about 1,200 meters. Manganese nodules are mineral resources that are often called “the black gold of the seabed” as they contain large quantities of strategic metals such as nickel, cobalt, and copper that are used as basic materials for the high-tech industry, and are found on the deep-sea floor at a depth of approximately 5,000 meters. To mine manganese nodules from the deep seabed, they need to be collected by a mining robot and subsequently transported to a mining ship through a pipe. For the test, a buffer system, which served as an interim storage place for the manganese nodules collected from the deep seabed, was first installed at a depth of 500 meters. Then the manganese nodules were stored in the buffer system before being transported to a mining ship through a lifting riser, a structure consisting of a lifting pump and pipes. With the successful test operation of the buffer system, the lifting pump, and the software for remote, real-time operation, all of which were developed with Korea’s own technology, Korea was able to prove its capability to lead the development of deep-sea mineral resources. In addition, it also verified the performance of the on-ship processing facilities, which separated and recovered the manganese nodules from the seawater lifted onto the mining ship while discharging the seawater from the ship in a continuous cycle. In addition, the test demonstrated the collective technological prowess of Korean marine equipment manufacturers by using the world’s first eight-inch lifting riser, which was designed for submerged arc welding (SAW), Korea’s own patented technology. In particular, the buffer system validated through this test is Korea’s own model developed by KRISO and it plays a core role in ensuring the safety and economic efficiency of the mineral lifting process by storing manganese nodules and controlling the quantity supplied to the ship using the lifting pump. The experiment also served as a highly meaningful opportunity to demonstrate that Korea has secured the technology basis for the front-end engineering & design (FEED) as Korea’s own technology was applied to the entire process from the handling of the structures and equipment of the lifting system to the design, production, installation, and operation of the onboard processing facilities. The success of this experiment marks the completion of the core lifting technology needed to transport manganese nodules collected by a mining robot to a mining ship, following the successful testing of KRISO’s own deep-sea mining robot performed at 1,370 meters below sea level in July 2013. This is one of the representative achievements of the Pacific Deep Sea Mineral Resources Development Project, which was initiated by the Korean government in 1994. Thanks to this project, and based on more than 20 years of research on and development of deep-sea mineral resources, Korea has been able to acquire core mining technology for the purpose of commercialization. Experts, too, believe that the test’s success will serve as an importance catalyst for Korea to lead the global efforts to develop and commercialize the technology to mine manganese nodules. Yeon Young-jin, Director of Marine Policy at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, “The technology for excavating underwater mineral resources has been designed for use in extreme environments. The success of this test will lead to the technology’s commercialization, so that it will be used to mine deep sea mineral resources. The technology can be applied in other fields that deal with extreme environments such as the shipbuilding and offshore plant industry. As Korea relies heavily on imports for natural resources, the government has focused on the development of underwater mineral resources with the goal of expanding the country’s ocean economic territory and securing a long-term, stable source of future resources. In 2002, the Korean government acquired sole prospecting rights over the Clarion-Clipperton (C-C) Zone, located about 2,000 kilometers southeast of Hawaii, from the International Seabed Authority (ISA). This has facilitated Korea’s exploration of manganese nodules, located within the exclusive exploration and mining area (75,000 square kilometers), and the development of related technology for the purpose of commercialization. Korea is the seventh country to secure an exclusive mining area for exploration in the C-C Zone in the Pacific Ocean, which is believed to hold up to 560 million tons of manganese nodules. Among this amount, Korea will be capable of mining three million tons each year for over 100 years. Thus, once the technology is fully developed and commercialized, it will be able to generate more than 2 trillion KRW annually by replacing energy imports. To date, Korea has secured vast ocean economic territory with the rights to explore a total area of 112,000 square kilometers, or nearly 1.12 times the size of South Korea (approximately 100,000 square kilometers), made up of the mining area in the aforementioned C-C Zone in the Pacific Ocean, and additional exclusive areas to explore seafloor polymetallic sulphides in Central Indian Ridge, Tonga EEZ, and Fiji EEZ. The mining technology that Korea has developed will also be used for the development of other mineral resources, such as seafloor polymetallic sulphides and manganese crusts.

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