Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., Ltd.(HD KSOE) announced on January 15 that it has signed a contract for two very large liquefied petroleum gas carriers (VLGCs) with a Middle Eastern shipowner, with an order value of KRW310bn (USD235m). The new vessels will be built at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Ulsan Shipyard and are expected to be delivered in November 2027.
Since January 5, 2024, this is the fifth order announced by HD KSOE, with the business taking orders for 27 new vessels worth $2.38 billion in just half a month, achieving 17.7% of its annual order target. By vessel type, the orders include 15 product tankers, two VLACs, eight VLGCs, and two LNG carriers.
The company said its order target for 2024 is “conservative” compared to 2023, as it has secured construction for at least the next three years.
On January 5, HD KSOE announced that it has signed a contract for two 88,000 m3 VLGCs with Norway’s natural gas owner Solvang, with an order value of KRW 303.2 billion (approx. US$231 million). The new vessels will be built at Ulsan Shipyard and are expected to be delivered sequentially in the first half of 2027, and the order increases Solvang’s VLGC order book at Hyundai Heavy Industries to seven vessels.
On January 8, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries(HHI) took an order for two 88,000 m3 VLACs valued at about 317.3 billion won ( about $240 million) from Turkish shipowner PascoGas, which are expected to be delivered one after the other by March 2027. This is the world’s first VLAC order in 2024.
On January 9, Qatar’s Nakilat signed a contract with Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, a subsidiary of HD KSOE, for the construction of two 174,000 m3 LNG carriers and four 88,000 m3 VLGCs, with a total order value of about $950 million, which is expected to be delivered between 2026 and 2027.
On January 9, HD KSOE announced that it has received an order for 15 MR product tankers with a total contract value of KRW 942.5 billion (approx. $720 million) and a single-vessel construction cost of $48 million. The new vessels will be built by its subsidiary HHyundai Mipo Dockyard and are expected to be delivered by November 2026 sequentially.