On April 28, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), the intermediate holding company for HD Hyundai Group’s shipbuilding business, announced that it has signed a contract with an Oceania shipping company to build 18 container ships, including four 8,400TEU container ships, eight 2,800TEU container ships and six 1,800TEU container ships.
Eight 2,800TEU container ships and six 1,800TEU container ships will be built by HD Hyundai Mipo, and four 8,400TEU container ships will be built by HD Hyundai Samho. Newbuildings are expected to be delivered to shipowners in sequence by the first half of 2028.
Together with the two 2,800TEU container ships and two 16,000TEU container ships announced on April 23 and 24 to be built by HD Hyundai Mipo and HD Hyundai Samho respectively, HD KSOE has contracted 22 container ships in four days with a total value of 2.5354 trillion won (approximately $1,763 million). HD Hyundai Mipo and HD Hyundai Samho will build 16 and 6 ships respectively.
Among them, the 8,400 TEU container ships built by HD Hyundai Samho will be equipped with liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel engines, which can use both LNG and diesel as fuels, and the 16,000 TEU container ships will be equipped with scrubbers to reduce emissions in response to stricter environmental protection regulations of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
So far this year, a total of 33 feeder container ships (below 3,000 TEU) have been ordered in the global new shipbuilding market, of which 16 were contracted by HD Hyundai Mipo.
An HD KSOE official said: “Our company will continue to expand its competitiveness in the container ship market with technology, quality and delivery reliability, and will enhance its profitability by selectively ordering high value-added, environmentally friendly ships.”