Our client — ABS — the leading provider of classification services to the global offshore industry, has entered into a joint development project with South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) to develop the industry's first LNG fueled drillship.

"This project builds on years of collaboration between ABS and DSME to evaluate innovative design concepts and new approaches that serve the needs of our clients and feature enhanced safety and efficiency standards," says Dr. Hoseong Lee, ABS Vice President, Global Korea Business Development and ABS Korea Energy Technology Center in Busan. "We are targeting the Gulf of Mexico as a key market for an LNG fueled drillship where, given the abundance of affordable shale gas resources in the US, LNG as a marine fuel makes good economic sense."

"DSME and ABS are recognized worldwide as leaders in technology research, shipbuilding, marine engineering and production of commercial vessels used in offshore operations," says DSME CTO and Executive Vice President Dr. Sung Geun Lee. "We are pleased to collaborate on this first-of-its-kind offshore structure leveraging our cutting-edge technologies and coupling these with ABS' experience validating new floating concepts."