South Korean shipbuilders are seeing a surge in orders for LNG carriers
This week, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) clinched a new ₩862.3Bn (US$679M) order to build three LNG carriers for an unnamed African client. The vessels will feature GTT’s Mark III Flex containment system and WinGD’s X-DF dual-fuel engine. This latest order means SHI has 17 ships on order in 2022, worth a cumulative US$2.9Bn – 33% of its annual order target. The vessels are expected to be delivered by January 2026.
Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) bagged contracts for four new LNG carriers worth ₩1.17Tr (US$922M). KSOE units Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries will build two 174,000-m3 ships each for an unnamed Asian shipowner. The vessels are due to be delivered March and August 2025. KSOE and its affiliates have won orders for 95 vessels this year worth more than US$10Bn.
East Asian yards have seen a tremendous influx of orders this year. South Korean orderbooks reached a six-year high in April 2022 driven by trends in the market.
Earlier this month China’s Hudong-Zhonghua received its third large-scale LNG ship order of 2022. In the first four months of 2022, Hudong-Zhonghua received a record 17 LNG ship orders.
