The Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Thursday it has inked a deal with the Korean Register of Shipping (KR), a South Korean ship quality assurance and risk management company, to jointly come up with safety design regulation for hydrogen-fueled ships.

The safety design regulation to be created for the first time in the world will be submitted to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) by 2022, Korea Shipbuilding said.

Ships are usually required to be built under a safety design regulation, but there is no such regulation for hydrogen-fueled ships, KSOE said.

KSOE's two units -- Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. -- plan to give advice on gas carriers to KSOE and KR.

Last October, KSOE won approval for the design of a commercial liquefied hydrogen carrier from KR for the first time in the world.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH), the holding company of KSOE, is scurrying to expand its presence in the hydrogen business.

On Wednesday, HHIH said it has signed a deal with Saudi Arabia's state-run oil firm Saudi Aramco to cooperate on a project to produce blue hydrogen, which is produced from natural gas with carbon emissions captured and stored.

In February, HHIH said it attracted about 800 billion won ($720 million) via a pre-initial public offering of its wholly owned ship repairing unit, Hyundai Global Service, to attract investments for its hydrogen business. (Yonhap)