South Korea's ministry of knowledge economy is setting aside KRW300bn ($267m) in the next 10 years to pursue knowledge on constructing eco-friendly ships. The ministry said Thursday that developing 'green' technology for ships is imminent as the IMO has been actively looking at regulations on reducing emissions.

    Of the total of KRW300bn, KRW194bn will come from the government and the remaining from the private sector. The ministry said the Korean shipyards have been slow to enter this field mainly because they believed the market was not big enough. The ministry estimated that the global market for cleaner ships could reach at least KRW80trn in 2015. Both the EU and Japan have taken an interest in green ship building since 1990s through looking into the development of zero emission ships. The ministry warned that existing ships that are not energy efficient and release large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere may be forced out of operations.

(Source:http://www.seatrade-asia.com)