South Korea's trade, industry and energy ministry will invest 187.3bn won ($130mn) this year in clean shipbuilding technologies, including hydrogen- and ammonia-fuelled vessels.
The funding is part of a wider plan to spend W320bn on shipbuilding innovation in 2026. More than half of this year's budget will go towards developing ammonia- and hydrogen-fuelled engines, onboard carbon-capture systems and electric-propulsion equipment for medium- to large-sized vessels.
Key projects include developing ammonia-fired gas turbines and the fuel-supply systems needed for large commercial ships. The government will also support work on hydrogen–diesel dual-fuel engines and hybrid systems that combine electric propulsion with fuel cells.
Seoul will fund several types of onboard carbon-capture technology, including wet scrubbing, cryogenic separation and adsorption systems.
Additional clean shipping investment will target electric propulsion for offshore wind support vessels and autonomous tugboats.
The plan also aims to expand the use of artificial intelligence in shipyards and shipping. This includes automated block handling, welding and logistics using unmanned mobile robots. Data from 30 vessels will be collected to train autonomous navigation models, and funding will support remotely operated and autonomous tugboats.
The ministry said the investment follows a strong year for Korean shipbuilders, whose exports reached $31.8bn in 2025, their highest level in eight years, driven largely by demand for high-value LNG carriers.
| South Korea's 2025 & 2026 funding for shipbuilding technologies | |||
| Category | 2025 amount (W bn) | 2026 amount (W bn) | Growth (pc) |
| Clean shipping technologies | 171.6 | 187.3 | 9.1 |
| AI & digital shipyards | 66.7 | 94.9 | 42.3 |
| Autonomous navigation vessels | 20.3 | 37.8 | 86.2 |
| Total | 259 | 320 | 23.7 |
| South Korea's ministry of trade, industry and energy | |||
