- SHI successfully completed the first domestic LNG transport from Tongyeong to Jeju using an LNG carrier equipped with the Korean-designed KC-2C cargo containment system.

- The Green Nuri barge demonstrated the stability of the KC-2C system with a record 123 LNG bunkering operations, the highest in Korea.

- SHI enhanced production efficiency by applying its high-speed lase welding robot to cargo-tank membrane welding.

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has officially opened a new chapter for the Korean shipbuilding sector by delivering a 7,500CBM LNG carrier equipped with the Korean-designed LNG cargo containment system KC-2C.

SHI announced on the 27th that, in collaboration with Korea Line LNG, the company has installed the KC-2C system on a commercial LNG carrier for the first time. The vessel was delivered this month and successfully completed its maiden LNG transport voyage from Tongyeong to Korea Gas Corporation’s Aewol LNG Terminal in Jeju.

Korea Line LNG and SHI signed a contract in August last year to retrofit the vessel’s existing cargo containment system with KC-2C. The modification work has since been carried out at SHI’s Geoje Shipyard, followed by gas trials before final delivery.

KC-2C is a Korean-developed cargo containment system created by SHI as part of efforts to localize LNG cargo-tank technology, which has historically relied on foreign suppliers. Compared to existing systems, KC-2C features improved secondary-barrier design and construction methods, ensuring superior tightness and safety while delivering enhanced insulation performance.

To develop KC-2C, SHI completed a full-scale mock-up test in 2020 and has since focused on internalizing key technologies through its LNG demonstration facility established in 2021.

In October 2023, SHI installed KC-2C on its multi-purpose LNG bunkering barge, Green Nuri, which the company operates through direct investment. The barge has since conducted LNG offshore bunkering, cooling trials, and gas trials in parallel as part of system validation.

Over the past two years, Green Nuri has performed a total of 123 LNG bunkering operations (as of October 2025), the highest number recorded in Korea, demonstrating the stability and reliability of the KC-2C system.

Construction of the membrane sheets inside LNG cargo tanks, which are directly exposed to −163°C liquefied natural gas, is considered one of the most technically demanding tasks in LNG tank construction. SHI significantly improved production efficiency for the KC-2C system by using its independently developed high-speed laser welding robot for membrane welding.

“The successful implementation of the KC-2C cargo containment system marks a major milestone for Korea, as we have finally localized a core technology that has long depended on foreign systems. As the global leader in LNG carrier construction, Korea now takes a meaningful step forward,” said Samsung Heavy Industries official. “We will continue our efforts to ensure the KC-2C system proves its value in the market through future retrofits and newbuilds of 174,000CBM LNG carriers.”