Hyundai Heavy affiliate wins $375 mn order for 2 LNG carriers

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., a shipbuilding arm of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, has won a 425 billion won ($375 million) order to build two liquefied natural gas carriers for a European shipping company.

Korea Shipbuilding said on Nov. 2 it has signed a contract with the unidentified European company to build two 174,000-cubic-meters LNG carriers. The contract includes an option for two additional LNG carriers of the same class.

The LNG carriers ordered this time are 299 meters long, 46.4 meters wide and 26.5 meters high. The vessels will be built at Hyundai Heavy’s shipyard in Ulsan, southeast of Seoul, with delivery slated to begin in the second half of 2022.

In particular, the vessels will be loaded with a nitrogen oxide reduction system, known as selective catalyst reduction (SCR), to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Hyundai Heavy, which was suffering from a lack of shipbuilding deals due to the global COVID-19 pandemic this year, began to receive orders with four LNG ships in July.

The company has so far this year clinched deals for 73 ships worth a combined $5.25 billion, achieving 48% of its annual target of $1.1 billion.

“Several negotiations are currently under way. We expect to announce more deals for the rest of the year,” said a company official.

According to industry tracker Clarkson Research’s September report, about 100 LNG carriers will be ordered globally by the end of 2021.

Write to Man-Su Choe at bebop@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.