Samsung Heavy Industries announced that it has signed a contract with an Asian shipping company for a construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier with an order value of 350.8 billion won ($260 million), scheduled for delivery in September 2026.
The Asian shipping company is reportedly Japanese shipowner Mitsui OSK Lines(MOL). Earlier this year in February, Samsung Heavy Industries also received an order for two LNG carriers worth 609.7 billion won (about $495 million) from MOL.
Including the latest order, Samsung Heavy Industries has taken orders for 26 new vessels at US$6.6 billion, realizing 69% of its annual order-taking target of US$9.5 billion.
In addition, MOL has ordered three LNG carriers from Hanwha Offshore & Marine this year in February, April and July.
To strengthen the competitiveness of LNG carriers, Samsung Heavy Industries recently unveiled the shipbuilding industry’s first “Laser High-Speed Welding Robot,” which can dramatically increase the welding speed of film panels in the liquid cargo compartments of LNG carriers by up to five times that of the existing plasma arc welding (PAW), and is expected to significantly increase the production efficiency of LNG carriers. The robot is expected to significantly improve the production efficiency of LNG carriers.
Samsung Heavy Industries said the laser high-speed welding robot will be a key technology that will maintain its core competitiveness in the construction of liquid cargo tanks, a key process for LNG carriers. And in the future, the company plans to expand its application to liquid cargo tanks of ultra-low-temperature liquefied hydrogen carriers. Meanwhile, with a large-scale order for LNG carriers from Qatar scheduled to be placed by the end of this year, the order intake is expected to exceed last year’s annual target.