US classification society ABS and South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) have signed a joint development project (JDP) to use solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology to replace at least one of three diesel generators typically onboard a very large crude carrier (VLCC).

It’s the second SOFC-focused JDP between ABS and DSME, with the first collaboration in 2019 revealing the high efficiency of a SOFC and gas turbine hybrid system due to the re-use of hot exhaust off-gas.