Major South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean Co. said Friday it has won a series of certifications for eco-friendly technologies from major global maritime rating agencies at an ongoing world gas industry exhibition.

Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., has obtained an approval in principle for the hold of a 70,000-cubic-meter liquefied carbon dioxide carrier from Norwegian accredited registrar and classification society DNV.

The capacity of Hanwha Ocean's LCO2 carrier hold is 50 percent larger than that of existing vessels, the shipbuilding arm of South Korea's No. 7 conglomerate Hanwha Group said.

Hanwha Ocean is attending Gastech 2023, the world's largest gas, liquefied natural gas, hydrogen and energy fair that kicked off in Singapore on Tuesday for a run till Friday, bringing together some 750 companies from 100 countries.

Hanwha Ocean also said it has clinched an AIP for a large LNG carrier that does not emit carbon gases from the American Bureau of Shipping, a US maritime classification society.

The 174,000-cubic-meter vessel has a gas turbine propulsion system that can be fueled by ammonia or natural gas, depending on the navigation situation.

Hanwha Ocean further said it has been certified as a company capable of measuring underwater radiated noise from ships for the first time among South Korean shipyards.

A company official said Hanwha Ocean will invest around 600 billion won ($450 million) down the road to develop eco-friendly propulsion systems based on ammonia, methanol and hydrogen, as well as ammonia, CO2 and hydrogen carriers, as part of efforts to take the lead in the global shipbuilding market.

In May this year, Hanwha Ocean set sail as the shipbuilding arm of Hanwha Group after obtaining regulatory approval for its purchase of a 49.3 percent stake in DSME and managerial control. (Yonhap)