Emergency shut down (ESD) valves are important equipment on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers and LNG-powered ships. Both the IGC code and IGF code have a series of requirements for ESD valves. This paper studies the closing time, realization type and application scope of the ESD valve on a LNG carrier and a large LNG-powered container ship, and also describes the special design of the ESD valve by comparison with the conventional remote control valve, and compares the differences in the requirements of the IGC code and IGF code for the ESD valve.