On April 2, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), the intermediate holding company for HD Hyundai Group’s shipbuilding business, announced that it had signed a contract with Sonangol to build two 157,000 dwt Suezmax tankers. The total value of the order is approximately $176 million, with each vessel costing approximately $88 million.
The new vessels will be built by HD Hyundai Samho and are expected to be delivered in May 2027.
Notably, the industry had previously assessed the cost of the order at approximately $190 million, which is $14 million higher than the actual cost of the order.
Including the latest order, HD KSOE has won 23 new vessels worth $3.81 billion this year, completing 21.1% of its annual order target of $18.05 billion. By ship type, it includes 12 container ships, 4 oil tankers, 4 liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessels, 2 ethane carriers, and 1 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)/ammonia carrier.
Currently, Sonangol’s fleet consists of 15 tankers and 5 gas carriers. Since 2014, Sonangol’s order book for Suezmax tankers at Korean shipyards has increased to 10 vessels.