South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has developed a new eco-friendly breakthrough product to help reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission from two-stroke marine engines.

HHI claimed it has produced the world’s first High Pressure Selective Catalytic Reduction (HP SCR) system that can dramatically redice NOx emission by up to 99% using ammonia as a catalyst, hence also complying with IMO NOx Tier III requirement that came into effect in January 2016.

The world’s largest shipbuilder said the eco-friendly marine engine add-on already draws keen attention from major shipping firms in that it can run on heavy fuel oil that costs half as much as marine gas oil.

The certification test for the HP SCR was completed in December 2015 with DNV GL, after an 18-month long R&D.

The first HP SCR is slated to be installed in a 20,600 cu m LPG carrier under construction at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, a shipbuilding affiliate of HHI on 5 February.

“HHI won the orders of five HP SCR to date, and set the annual order target of more than 100 units by 2018,” HHI said.

“In response to the harsh challenges in the shipbuilding industry, HHI is stepping up efforts to develop new technologies targeted at the market demands for eco-friendly, more efficient and smarter ships,” it added.