Ⅰ. Industry Overview (Sector Overview)

 

1) Industry definition

The marine, underwater robot, marine energy, and shipbuilding equipment industries are high-risk industries directly linked to maritime transportation, marine resources, energy, and national infrastructure
. ESG is not an environmental protection declaration in this field, but rather operates as a financial risk system that manages the risks of accidents, spills, regulatory violations, and disruptions .

Especially the marine industry

  • In the event of an accident, human, environmental, insurance, and legal responsibilities occur simultaneously.
  • In case of violation of international regulations (IMO, etc.), port access and operation itself will be restricted.
  • Failure of underwater robots and underwater facilities directly leads to project delays and CAPEX losses .

From the perspective of US and European investors, ESG is a tool to verify whether
the company's equipment and systems can operate sustainably at sea without accidents .

https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/Pages/default.aspx
https://www.ifrs.org/issued-standards/issb-standards/

 

2) Korea's global position

Korean companies are participating in global supply chains across shipbuilding, offshore plants, submarine cables, underwater robots, equipment, and marine energy, and many listed companies disclose safety, environment, ethics, and supply chain
issues in their sustainability reports .

However, from the perspective of overseas investors,
**whether maritime accidents, spills, and operational suspensions are managed as KPIs** is the key to ESG judgment.

https://www.oecd.org/ocean/topics/ocean-economy/
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2022/maritime-decarbonization

 

3) ESG sensitive points due to the nature of the industry

  • Marine Safety and Accident Management : Sinking, Collision, and Work Accidents
  • Marine Pollution and Spills : Huge Environmental and Legal Costs in the Event of an Accident
  • International Maritime Organization (IMO) : Fuel, Emission, and Safety Regulations
  • Underwater Robot Reliability : Projects Halt in the Event of a Failure
  • Cybersecurity (Ships and OT) : Navigation and Control Hacking Risks
  • Supply Chain and Human Rights : Shipping and Shipbuilding Labor and Forced Labor Issues
  • Energy and Climate : Fuel Efficiency and Decarbonization Pressures

Purpose of provision
This report is a global ESG standard report for the industry to ① compare and present the ESG position of the Korean marine and shipbuilding equipment industry
based on the **US/global investor baseline (ISSB/SASB + IMO/maritime regulatory practice)** and ③ encourage Korean listed companies to transition to ‘US-level’ ESG documents .


II. Summary of the Industry-Wide ESG Structure

Environment (E)

  • Fuel, energy, and emissions (Scope 1 and 2) from ship and equipment manufacturing and operation
  • Scope 3, focusing on maritime logistics, fuel, and parts , has a significant share.

Society (S)

  • Maritime Safety and Worker Safety
  • Impact on the community in case of an accident or spill
  • Shipping and Shipbuilding Labor Human Rights

Governance Structure (G)

  • International Regulation (IMO) compliance system
  • Accident Reporting and Responsibility Structure
  • Project Risk Oversight (Board of Directors)
III. The US 'Baseline' – How We View ESG in the Maritime and Shipbuilding Industries

1) Industry-based standards (ISSB/SASB)

American investors don't view maritime industry ESG as an "environmental protection campaign."
The key question is:

  • How are maritime accident and spill risks managed?
  • Can Violations of International Regulations Hinder Operations and Sales?
  • Do equipment and underwater robot failures lead to project losses?

This is why SASB Marine Transportation·Industrial Machinery  topics define
accidents, environment, safety, and supply chain as financially material issues .

https://sasb.ifrs.org/standards/materiality-finder/

 

2) Evaluation centered on International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations

  • IMO regulates emissions (EEXI/CII) ,  fuel ,  safety , and  pollution prevention .
  • Violations result in restricted port access and increased insurance premiums.
  • Investors demand “ evidence of regulatory compliance ”

https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/HotTopics/Pages/EEXI-CII.aspx

 

3) 안전·사고·중단 리스크

  • 해양사고는 단일 사건이 대규모 손실로 확대
  • 보험·법적 책임·프로젝트 중단이 동시에 발생
    → 미국 기준에서는 사고·유출·중단 KPI가 ESG 핵심
Ⅳ. 미국 대비 한국 해양·조선 기자재 산업의 현재 위치

 

구분

미국 기준선 (Investor Practice)

한국 산업의 흔한 상태

갭(차이) 핵심 설명 (URL 내장)

해양 안전·중대사고사고 발생률, 중대사고 건수, 작업중단 시간, 보험·손실비용을 KPI로 관리안전 방침·교육 중심 서술사고를 ‘관리 체계’가 아닌 ‘정책 선언’으로만 설명하여, 사고 빈도·중단 시간·재무 손실을 KPI로 연결하지 못함 (SASB 해양·운송 안전 토픽) → https://sasb.ifrs.org//
해양오염·유출유출 사고, 대응 시간, 복구 비용, 벌금·소송 리스크 공개환경 보호 원칙 중심유출 사고를 ‘가능성’ 수준으로만 언급하고, 실제 발생 시 대응 시나리오·비용·책임 구조를 공시하지 않음 (IMO 해양오염 규제 체계) → https://www.imo.org/
IMO 규제(EEXI·CII)EEXI·CII 등급, 개선 계획, 운항·수익성 영향 공개규제 인식·준수 선언EEXI·CII를 규제 체크리스트로만 인식하고, 등급 하락이 운항 제한·비용·선박 가치에 미치는 영향을 수치로 설명하지 않음 → https://www.imo.org/
수중로봇·해양장비 신뢰성장애 빈도, MTBF, 프로젝트 중단 리스크 KPI기술 성능 중심 설명장비 장애가 프로젝트 지연·계약 손실로 이어질 수 있다는 ‘운영 실패 리스크’를 KPI·재무 영향으로 연결하지 않음 (해양 산업 리스크 관점) → https://www.oecd.org/
사이버보안(선박·OT)선박 제어·OT 보안, 사고 대응 훈련, 침해 KPIIT 보안 위주 공시선박·해양 설비 OT 보안을 IT 보안의 하위 항목으로 취급해, 실제 해킹·운항 중단 리스크를 분리 공시하지 않음 (NIST 사이버 프레임워크) → https://www.nist.gov/
공급망·노동 인권조선·해운 노동, 강제노동·하청 실사 결과 공개윤리헌장·행동강령공급망 인권을 선언 수준에 두고, 실사 범위·위반 사례·시정 결과를 투자자 관점에서 제시하지 않음 (OECD 해양·공급망 가이드) → https://www.oecd.org/
Scope 3 배출연료·운송·해운 포함 가치사슬 배출 공개Scope 1·2 중심연료 사용·해운 물류 등 핵심 배출원을 포함한 Scope 3를 ‘추정 곤란’ 사유로 배제 (ISSB Scope 3 요구 방향) → https://www.ifrs.org

(근거: IMO, ISSB, SASB, OECD, BCG)

Ⅴ. 한국 제도·공시 구조에서 ‘갭’이 발생하는 이유
  1. 해양사고의 민감성
    → 사고·유출을 정량 공개하는 데 소극적
  2. 국내 공시의 ‘환경 중심’ 편향
    → 안전·중단·보험 리스크가 ESG로 충분히 반영되지 않음
  3. IMO 규제의 기술적 복잡성
    → KPI화 어려움

https://www.ifrs.org/projects/work-plan/

Ⅵ. 한국 대표 상장사 사례

1) 현대자동차

2) 현대모비스

3) LG이노텍

4) 현대오토에버

5) 현대글로비스

Ⅶ. 한국 기업이 ‘미국 수준’으로 ESG를 써야 하는 이유
  1. 해양 산업은 ESG = 사고·중단 리스크 관리
  2. IMO 규제는 운항 허가 조건
  3. 사고·유출은 단일 이벤트로 기업가치 훼손
  4. ISSB/SASB 산업기반 공시가 글로벌 표준으로 수렴

해양·조선 기자재 전용 고정 섹션(권장)

  1. Marine Safety & Incident Ledger
  2. Spill & Pollution Response KPI
  3. IMO Compliance (EEXI/CII) Fact Sheet
  4. Underwater Robot Reliability KPI
  5. OT/Marine Cybersecurity
  6. Scope 1–3 & Fuel Transition
Ⅷ. Summary of Foreign Investor Perspectives

Foreign investors evaluate this industry as follows:

  • “Can this company collapse in one accident?”
  • “Can port access be blocked due to regulatory violations?”
  • “Does a failure in the submarine or underwater equipment halt the project?”

Therefore, when a Korean company's ESG
document describes accident, leak, and outage risks in terms of KPIs and financial impact,
it is evaluated as "investable and tradable" by US standards.

Ⅸ. Notice

This document is a reference document that structured industry-level ESG information based on publicly available corporate disclosures, website data, and credible disclosure standards (e.g., ISSB/CSRD).
It is not intended for investment decisions, buy/sell recommendations, or valuations of specific companies. The final decision and responsibility for any use of this material lies with the user.

Ⅹ. Analyzable results
  • (A) 2-page Sector Scorecard for Foreign Investors
  • (B) Writing Kit for Listed Company Practitioners (KPI Template)
  • (C) Evidence Pack (set of links to regulations, standards, and evidence)