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Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) held a ceremony on September 18th to celebrate the launch its vessel Taepyungyang 9, which the company claims is the first hybrid ship of its kind to be launched in Korea.

The 3,000-tonne ship is 112.7m long and 14.2m wide and has a full speed of 28 knots. According to HHI, it is Korea's first environmentally-friendly ship that is able to sail using an electric motor rather than its main engine when travelling below 12 knots.

HHI added a 750kW class electric motor to the vessel in order to improve fuel efficiency and reduce vibration and noise. Traditionally, petrol vessels only use two 10,000bhp diesel engines.

HHI added that it plans to build another hybrid vessel for the Korean Coast Guard by August 2010.

The vessel will be equipped with firefighting equipment to spray up to 20,000 liters of water per minute. It will be used in the field of marine and coast patrol, rescue operations and marine environmental protection.

HHI will deliver the vessel by February 2010 after interior fitting work and sea trials.