On January 18, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) announced that it has signed a contract with Oceania Shipping for the construction of two Very Large Ammonia Carriers (VLACs). The total order value is KRW333 billion (approximately US$250 million).
The new vessels will be built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Ulsan Shipyard and delivered in April 2027.
Including the latest orders, HD Hyundai has received orders for 29 vessels worth $2.64 billion (about CNY19 billion) this year, achieving 19.5% of its annual order target of $13.5 billion. By ship type, there are two LNG carriers, 15 product tankers, four VLACs and 8 VLGCs.
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.
On January 15, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries was awarded a contract for the construction of two VLGCs by a Middle Eastern shipowner with an order value of $235 million, which is expected to be delivered in November 2027.