HD Hyundai Samho Co., Ltd. and classification society ClassNK have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop an LNG carrier design that applies the forthcoming amendments to the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk, the IGC Code.
The agreement was finalised at a signing ceremony held during Gastech 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand, according to a report published by reports. The memorandum commits the two organisations to collaborate on design work intended to reflect the amended IGC Code.
The IGC Code governs the construction and equipment of ships carrying liquefied gases in bulk. The MOU specifies that the joint effort will centre on an LNG carrier design incorporating the forthcoming changes to that code, the published report states.
Partnership and purpose
The memorandum frames the collaboration as a technical design partnership. It links a shipyard group and a classification society in a joint development role focused specifically on ensuring a new LNG carrier design aligns with the amended regulatory standard.
Event and setting
The signing ceremony took place at Gastech 2026 in Bangkok. The report identifies that location as the site where representatives from the two parties completed the MOU formalities.
Sources published the account of the MOU on 16 September 2026. The report provides the core facts: the parties involved, the objective of the collaboration and the setting in which the agreement was signed.
The memorandum does not, in the published summary, set out technical particulars, delivery schedules or commercial arrangements. The available note confines itself to the existence of the joint development agreement and the explicit intention to apply the amended IGC Code to the carrier design.
Taken at face value, the MOU places the pair in a development role that precedes any detailed design release or regulatory submission. The published account concentrates on the announcement and ceremonial signing at Gastech rather than on subsequent steps.
The report does not list additional collaborators or specify whether other entities were present at the signing. It likewise does not disclose whether the parties intend to publish further technical reports, design drawings or regulatory filings arising from their joint work.
The memorandum as described marks a formal cooperation between HD Hyundai Samho Co., Ltd. and ClassNK directed at producing an LNG carrier concept that applies the forthcoming amendments to a major international code. The announcement was made public through reports following the Gastech 2026 ceremony in Bangkok.