Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore wins $308 million order to build 6 vessels

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) has won a 348 billion won ($308 million) deal to build six vessels, bringing its total ship construction orders to more than 10 trillion won year to date.

Under a deal with a Liberian company, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., a unit of KSOE, will deliver a 91,000-cubic-meter liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier in the first half of 2023, KSOE said.

Hyundai Samho will also build an 86,000-cubic-meter LPG carrier for an Asian company, it said.

Another deal to build two 50,000-ton petrochemical carriers placed by an Asian company will be constructed by Hyundai Heavy’s shipyard in Vietnam.

The deal with an Oceanian company calls for Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. to build two 2,800 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container ships for delivery from the second half of 2022.

The LPG carriers are eco-friendly vessels equipped with dual-fuel engines, KSOE said.

KSOE is the intermediate holding company of the Hyundai Heavy Industries Group that has three shipbuilders under its wing – Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Hyundai Samho and Hyundai Mipo.

According to global shipbuilding and shipping intelligence firm Clarksons Research, shipowners have placed orders for a total of 59 LPG carriers so far this year, 14 more ships from 2020, and KSOE won 61% of this year’s total with 36 vessels.

With the latest order to build six vessels, KSOE’s total shipbuilding contracts reached 10.7 trillion won ($9.5 billion) year to date, accounting for 64% of this year’s goal of $14.9 billion.

“The global economy has entered a recovery phase, with shipowners placing shipbuilding orders one after another. We expect a good year in 2021 with our shipbuilding experience and know-how for various types of ships,” said a KSOE official.

Write to Kyung-Min Kang at Kkm1026@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.