KSOE bags $1.4 billion ship orders in first 2022 deals

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE), Hyundai Heavy Industries Group’s intermediate holding company, has kicked off 2022 with 1.7 trillion won ($1.4 billion) in orders to build 10 vessels.

KSOE said on Jan. 4 that it signed a 1.3 trillion won contract to build six 16,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container ships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) with a shipping company in Europe.

The shipyard also secured a 259.5 billion won deal for a 174,000-cubic-meter LNG carrier from a customer in Asia. It also inked a contract to build three 1,800 TEU container ships with a client in Oceania.

Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., a KSOE shipbuilding unit, is set to build the six large container ships and the LNG tanker to deliver them in order from the first half of 2024 to the customers.

Those vessels will be equipped with dual-fuel engines, meeting tighter environmental regulations by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), according to the company.

ECO-FRIENDLY HIGH VALUE-ADDED SHIPS

The 289.9-meter long LNG tanker adopted not only a dual-fuel engine but also various eco-friendly functions such as an LNG reliquefaction system.

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., another KSOE unit, is set to build the three feeder container ships to deliver from the second half of 2023.

“Growing interest and inquiries about eco-friendly vessels have steadily resulted in orders as global environmental regulations are tightened,” said a KSOE official.

Last year, KSOE won $22.8 billion orders to build 226 vessels including 58 LNG-powered ships, the most in the world, topping its initial target of $14.9 billion.

The company set this year’s order target at $17.4 billion, aiming to secure deals for eco-friendly high value-added ships in consideration of profitability.

Write to Kyung-Min Kang at kkm1026@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.