South Korea’s Hanwha Engine has completed and shipped the world’s first WinGD X-DF low-speed engine equipped with variable compression ratio (VCR) technology for LNG carriers.
The 5X72DF-2.2 unit was unveiled at the company’s headquarters in Changwon and is slated for installation on an LNG carrier under Samsung Heavy Industries’ build program for Qatar.
At the ceremony, attended by CEO Yoo Moon-ki, a Samsung Heavy Industries vice president, WinGD representatives, shipowners and class officials, Hanwha described the engine as a milestone in greener ship propulsion.
“The world’s first production of VCR-applied engines for LNG carriers is a milestone that advances the eco-friendly transition of the shipbuilding industry,” Yoo said.
Hanwha said it has already booked about 70 VCR-equipped engines worth roughly KRW 700 billion.
VCR can trim methane slip — unburned methane released in gas mode — by about 30% to 50% versus existing configurations.
WinGD, the engine designer, said earlier this year that shop tests on a six-cylinder, 62-bore X-DF with VCR at MESDU in Japan cut methane slip by around 30%, lowering total slip to approximately 0.83% of gas consumption, and cited fuel-consumption reductions of up to 5.8% in gas mode and 6.9% in diesel mode; the company argued VCR brings X-DF greenhouse-gas performance broadly in line with high-pressure dual-fuel alternatives at lower total system cost.
Hanwha Engine Co., Ltd. is a South Korean marine-engine manufacturer formed in March 2024 following the acquisition and rebranding of HSD Engine by Hanwha Group; a longstanding WinGD licensee supplying low-speed two-stroke engines to global yards, including Hanwha Ocean.
Winterthur Gas & Diesel Ltd. (WinGD) is the engine designer referenced in the text and the developer/licensor of the X-DF low-speed two-stroke technology used by licensees.
Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. is a South Korean shipbuilder identified in the text as the builder for the LNG carrier on which the Hanwha Engine unit is slated to be installed.