The shipbuilder said in a statement on Monday that the Korea Line-owned LNG carrier was delivered this month and completed its maiden voyage transporting LNG from Tongyeong to the Jeju Aewol LNG terminal.
State-owned LNG importing giant Kogas operates both the large Tongyeong LNG terminal and the small-scale Jeju facility.
Samsung Heavy said this is the first time that it has installed the KC-2C tech on a commercial LNG carrier, but did not reveal the vessel’s name.
The vessel in question appears to be the 2019-built LNG bunkering and supply vessel SM Jeju LNG1, owned by Korea Line and chartered by Kogas.
This vessel was previously equipped with Korean type KC-1 cargo hold as part of a national project aimed at the localization of core technology for LNG cargo holds.
Samsung Heavy said in a statement that it had signed a contract last August to retrofit the LNG carrier’s existing cargo tank with the KC-2C.
Construction proceeded at the Geoje shipyard, and the vessel was recently delivered after completing gas commissioning.
Large LNG carriers
Samsung Heavy said the KC-2C is a Korean-designed cargo tank developed by the shipbuilder to achieve technological independence in LNG cargo tanks, an area previously reliant on foreign technology.
Compared to existing cargo tanks, it “improves secondary barrier design and construction methods to ensure airtightness and stability, while also offering excellent insulation performance.”
Samsung Heavy completed mock-up testing for KC-2C development in 2020 and focused on internalizing core cargo tank technologies at its LNG demonstration facility established in 2021.
Furthermore, in October 2023, the KC-2C was installed on the multi-purpose LNG bunkering barge Green Nuri, which Samsung Heavy operates with its own investment.
Over the past two years, the Green Nuri has performed a total of 123 LNG bunkering operations (as of October 2025), Samsung Heavy said.
Samsung Heavy said the success of the Korean-designed LNG cargo tank KC-2C represents a “meaningful advancement in the LNG carrier sector, where Korea holds the top position in the global market, by finally achieving domestic production of core technologies previously reliant on foreign sources.”
“We will strive to ensure the KC-2C cargo tank is recognized in the market through the conversion and new construction of 174,000-cbm LNG carriers,” the shipbuilder said.
