Pan Ocean, a South Korean shipping company owned by South Korean private equity giant Hahn & Company, announced that it has signed multi-year charter contracts with SK Energy and SK Incheon Petrochemical—both subsidiaries of South Korea’s SK Group—for its four newly ordered 300,000-metric-ton Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs).
Under the contract, the four newly built VLCCs will be chartered for 20 years, with a total contract value of approximately $1.62 billion. The tentative charter period is set from September 15, 2029, to September 15, 2049, though this may be adjusted accordingly based on the vessels’ delivery dates. Upon delivery, the new vessels will be used for crude oil transportation operations in South Korea, including routes from the Middle East to South Korea.
In May 2026, Pan Ocean announced an investment of 783.4 billion won ($525 million) to build four VLCCs, with a unit cost of approximately $131 million per vessel. At that time, industry observers speculated that the order would be awarded to the South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean; On June 12, Hanwha Ocean announced that it had signed a contract with an Asian shipowner for four VLCCs at a unit price of approximately $131 million, thereby confirming industry speculation regarding the shipbuilder for this order.
The signing of long-term charter agreements with SK Energy and SK Incheon Petrochemical will secure Pan Ocean’s project to build four new VLCCs, helping this international shipowner—whose core business is dry bulk shipping—to continue expanding its crude oil transportation operations. Since June 2025, Pan Ocean has placed orders for a total of seven VLCCs.
In June 2025, Pan Ocean ordered two eco-friendly, 300,000 DWT-class VLCCs from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries at a price of $127.5 million per vessel, marking the end of a five-year hiatus in VLCC orders for the shipowner. In March 2026, Pan Ocean turned its focus to Chinese shipyards, placing an order with Beihai Shipbuilding for one 319,000 DWT ammonia-ready VLCC at a cost of $122 million; in June, Hanwha Ocean announced it had secured an order from Pan Ocean for four VLCCs.
In addition to the newbuild market, Pan Ocean has also been aggressively acquiring VLCCs in the secondhand market. Earlier this year, Pan Ocean announced it would spend nearly $700 million to acquire 10 VLCCs from fellow South Korean shipowner SK Shipping, significantly expanding its operations in the crude oil tanker market. Given that the transaction includes the transfer of related long-term charter contracts involving several major South Korean shippers, the closing is expected to be completed by April 11, 2027.
While Pan Ocean has recently been accelerating its expansion into the crude oil transport sector through the ordering of new vessels and the acquisition of secondhand ships, dry bulk shipping remains its core business, accounting for approximately 60% of its total operations. According to data recently released by the company, its fleet currently comprises over 240 vessels (including chartered-in ships); of these, around 200 are bulk carriers, with the remainder consisting of tankers, container ships, heavy-lift vessels, and LNG carriers.
