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South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) - the world's largest shipbuilding company - says its fuel-saving propeller attachment, Hi-FIN, "proves beneficial to shipowners and operators".

After a year-long trial of the energy-saving device installed on a 162,000-cubic-metre (cbm) LNG carrier ordered by Maran Gas, HHI says it found that Hi-FIN can save up to 2.5 percent of fuel in comparison with the same type of vessels without Hi-FIN.

"If the fuel saving ratio is calculated on the basis of an 8,600 TEU containership, the owners or operators of the containership can save about $750,000 per year or $19 million for 25 years, an estimated lifetime of the ship," the shipbuilder said in a statement.

The energy-saving device attached at the hub of the propeller generates countering swirls that offset the swirls generated by the propeller, and thus improves propulsion efficiency, HHI claims.

HHI says it has won orders to install Hi-FIN on over 30 ships to date, and expects more orders now that it is able to install the device on more vessel types, "from LNG carriers to almost all types of ships including VLCC, LPG carriers and containerships".