Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering held a simultaneous naming ceremony for two dual-fuel VLCCs equipped with LNG fuel tanks made of high manganese steel for the first time in the world. The vessel named this time is equipped with the world’s first high manganese steel LNG fuel tank, completed after 10 years of joint research and development by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and POSCO.
Until now, materials such as Invar (nickel alloy steel), aluminum, and stainless steel have been used for cargo holds and fuel tanks that can withstand the cryogenic temperature of minus 163°C. These materials had disadvantages such as high price, difficult work process, and low strength. The high manganese steel LNG fuel tank overcomes all these shortcomings. High manganese steel is attracting attention as a next-generation material for LNG cargo holds because its price is lower than that of existing materials, and it has high strength and abrasion resistance as well as performance at cryogenic temperatures.
In particular, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and POSCO jointly developed a tank manufacturing technology from pretreatment to welding to use high manganese steel as an LNG fuel tank.