On June 8, South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries announced that it had signed a construction contract for one large LNG carrier with a shipowner in the Oceania region.
The contract is worth 385.5 billion Korean won (approximately 2.51 USD, 1.448 billion RMB), with delivery scheduled before the end of January 2029. For reference, Clarksons data shows that the current price for a 174,000 cubic meter large LNG carrier is 248.5 million USD, a decrease of about 2.5% compared to 255 million USD in the same period last year.
Samsung Heavy Industries did not disclose specific information about the shipowner, but according to international ship network sources, this order comes from Purus Marine. This will be the fourth LNG carrier Purus Marine has ordered from Samsung Heavy Industries. Previously, the company ordered two 174,000 cubic meter LNG carriers from Samsung Heavy Industries at the end of last year, with a unit price of 251.5 million USD at that time; in March this year, the company ordered a third vessel of the same type at a price of 252 million USD. The delivery dates for the three vessels are December 2028, March 2029, and April 2029, respectively.
It is understood that Purus Marine is a leading global offshore service provider for energy clients, specializing in gas transportation and the offshore wind power industry. The company owns and operates one of the world’s largest and youngest fleets of liquefied gas carriers, Commissioning Service Operation Vessels (CSOVs), and Crew Transfer Vessels, encompassing 75 low-carbon vessels with an average age of 1.6 years.
Currently, Purus manages a fleet of 21 liquefied gas carriers, including LNG carriers, ammonia carriers, LPG carriers, and ethane carriers. In October last year, the company entered the LNG bunkering vessel sector for the first time, ordering two 18,900 cubic meter LNG bunkering vessels from Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Marine Engineering, scheduled for delivery in 2028 and to be chartered to Shell for operation.
In addition to the LNG carrier order from Samsung Heavy Industries, Purus also has one 180,000 cubic meter class LNG carrier on order at HD Hyundai Samho. This vessel is chartered by Japanese trading giant Jera at a daily rate of 80,000 USD for a period of 15-20 years.
With the latest LNG carrier order, Samsung Heavy Industries has secured a total of 29 orders so far this year, with a contract value of 8.5 billion USD (approximately 57.7 billion RMB), achieving 61% of its annual order target of 13.9 billion USD. By vessel type, these comprise 13 large LNG carriers, 2 Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs), 4 Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGCs), 2 container ships, 6 crude oil tankers, 1 LNG-FSRU (Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Storage and Regasification Unit), and 1 FLNG. Among these, the commercial vessel order value reached 5.2 billion USD, achieving 91% of the annual target of 5.7 billion USD; the offshore business order value reached 3.3 billion USD, achieving 40% of the annual target of 8.2 billion USD.
Industry insiders in South Korea indicate that Samsung Heavy Industries’ commercial vessel business is expected to achieve its full-year order target ahead of schedule within the first half of the year.
A Samsung Heavy Industries official stated: “The company’s competitiveness in the LNG field is continuously translating into order results. While continuing to adhere to a selective order-taking strategy focused on high-value-added vessel types, Samsung Heavy Industries will actively promote several FLNG projects currently under negotiation.”
A Samsung Heavy Industries official stated that since the beginning of May, the company has successively secured orders for 1 LNG-FSRU (Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Storage and Regasification Unit), 6 large LNG carriers, and 1 FLNG (Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Production Unit), with a total value of nearly 4.7 billion USD, exceeding 55% of the company’s total order value of 8.5 billion USD so far this year. This demonstrates that the company is further consolidating the competitiveness of its LNG value chain product lineup, centered on LNG carriers.
He emphasized: “As geopolitical instability in the Middle East intensifies, the importance of energy security and supply chain diversification continues to rise, and the demand for efficient LNG carriers is also increasing. The company will continue to maintain its order momentum based on its market-proven LNG carrier construction capabilities and quality competitiveness. Going forward, the company will continue to focus on all areas of the LNG value chain, adhering to a selective order-taking strategy centered on profitability.”
It is worth noting that since the beginning of May, South Korea’s three major shipbuilders have accelerated their pace of securing LNG carrier orders. To date, Samsung Heavy Industries has secured 7, Hanwha Ocean has secured 2, and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering has secured 4, totaling 13 LNG carrier orders in just over a month.
As of now, the number of LNG carriers ordered by South Korea’s three major shipbuilders this year has reached 35, already surpassing the total for the entire previous year. Among them, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering has 16, Samsung Heavy Industries has 13, and Hanwha Ocean has 6. In 2025, the three major South Korean shipbuilders secured a total of 34 LNG carrier orders, of which Hanwha Ocean secured 13, Samsung Heavy Industries 11, and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering 8.
