South Korea’s Ulsan Port Authority (UPA) has signed a $17.6 million investment deal with Hyundai Oil Terminal Corporation, to fund a supply chain hub for alternative fuels at the port.
According to a report from Ship Technology, the port will use that money to expand its storage capacity for liquified natural gas (LNG), and set up corridors to provide that fuel to other shipping hubs across South Korea. A separate investment of $219 million from Hyundai Oil will also increase the storage capacity of facilities for oil, green methanol and ethanol to a combined 380,000 kiloliters, with the port expecting to move 2.5 million kiloliters of fuel a year in cargo volume once the terminal expansion wraps up in 2026.
Read More: Shipping Industry ‘Struggling to Keep Up’ With Pressure to Cut Emissions
Ulsan has long been at center of the push for sustainable shipping fuels, as the port where ocean carrier Maersk unveiled the world’s first-ever methanol-powered container ship in January of 2024. Less than a month later, the Port of Ulsan was the site of the first ship-to-ship methanol bunkering for a large container vessel. Maersk plans to roll out 18 total methanol-powered container ships by 2025.
