South Korean shipbuilding major Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has secured a contract to construct fifteen liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.
The contract, worth KRW 4.57 trillion ($3.44 billion), is the largest single deal received by the shipbuilder, exceeding the KRW 3.96 trillion (around $3 billion) contract signed with Taiwan-based shipping company Evergreen Marine for sixteen methanol-powered container ships in July last year.
The shipowner behind the order is believed to be Qatar’s LNG heavyweight QatarEnergy since the shipbuilder was engaged in negotiations since October last year. In January this year, the energy company also sealed a contract with Chinese shipbuilder CSSC Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding for the construction of eight Q-Max ultra-large LNG carriers
The new 174,000 cbm ships to be constructed by the South Korean shipbuilder are scheduled to be sequentially delivered to the shipowner by October 2028. With this contract, Samsung Heavy Industries’ total orders for this year amount to 17 ships, including fifteen LNG carriers and two very large ammonia carriers (VLACs).
“As we have secured a significant amount of work with this large-scale order, our policy of selective order-taking centered on profitability will be further strengthened,” SHI’s official noted.
The firm received the order for two VLACs last month. The deal, valued at KRW 315 billion ($235 million), was signed with undisclosed shipowners in the Oceania region. Samsung Heavy said that the two vessels are scheduled for delivery by the end of November 2027.
With the latest massive contract, the company has already secured $3.7 billion worth of backlog orders this year, which represents over half of last year’s entire orders worth $8.3 billion.