Samsung Heavy Wins FLNG Design Approvals at Gastech 2026

Samsung Heavy Industries has secured a trio of design approvals for its floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) technology at Gastech 2026, the world's largest gas industry exhibition, which opened Monday in Bangkok, Thailand and runs through September 17.

Vice Chairman and CEO Choi Sung-ahn led a delegation of senior executives to the show, where the shipbuilder is presenting its energy technology lineup under the slogan "Charting the Voyage of Energy." The centerpiece of the showing is SENSE, Samsung Heavy's proprietary natural gas liquefaction system, which the company developed and validated in-house rather than licensing from the handful of foreign specialists that have long dominated the field.

On September 15, the American Bureau of Shipping and the UK's Lloyd's Register are set to grant approval in principle for a conceptual design applying SENSE to the topside facilities of an FLNG unit, while ABS will separately conduct a basic design review. Samsung Heavy is also planning to sign a memorandum of understanding with South Korean offshore engineering firm Gas Entec for the first commercial licensing of the SENSE system, marking a step toward monetizing the technology beyond its own shipyards.

The company is pursuing additional certifications tied to gas carrier construction. The Korean Register is expected to certify a structural integrity assessment method for large Type-C independent cargo tanks that accounts for real-world operating conditions, and Norway's DNV is scheduled to issue approval in principle for a composite support structure used in storage tanks aboard very large gas and ammonia carriers.

Samsung Heavy is also using the exhibition to advance commercial partnerships. It plans to sign a preliminary services agreement with JERA Americas for a floating storage and regasification unit project off Hawaii, and a memorandum of understanding with Fulcrum LNG targeting FLNG opportunities across five global regions.

"Gastech, the world's largest gas energy exposition, shows where the future energy industry is heading," Choi said, adding that Samsung Heavy intends to expand cooperation with global partners across the LNG value chain, including FLNG.

The approvals add to a wave of recent momentum for the shipbuilder, which separately announced a $1.2 billion order for six vessels the same day, underscoring robust demand across its LNG-related business lines.