Recently shipowners are taking notice of maximum continuous rating (MCR) as a yardstick for judgement before investing.

Analyst Park Mu-Hyun of E*Trade Securities said "When owners considered propulsion speed the most important in the past, currently they are putting stress not just on changes in engine, but on Korean shipyards' Eco-design capacity, which improves fuel efficiency."

Park pointed out that 17% point difference in fuel efficiency between Korea's DSME-built and China's Rongsheng Heavy Industries-built Valemax VLOC.

Engine makers such as MAN Diesel & Turbo, Wartsila, etc., focus on improvement of fuel efficiency, while shipyards are responsible of "Keeping in mind de-rating engines and developing optimized ship design, which minimizes vessel resistance by installing engines with the smallest horse-power as possible, which would be the core of Eco-ship competition."