Hanwha Ocean to build ammonia carrier under $125 million deal

South Korean shipbuilding major Hanwha Ocean has secured an order to construct an ultra-large ammonia carrier for an undisclosed shipowner from Oceania.

According to the company’s stock exchange filling, the vessel will be built for a price tag of KRW 163 billion ($125 million).

The ammonia carrier is scheduled for delivery by the end of September 2026. No other details were disclosed.

The announcement comes on the back of a recent shipbuilding contract that Hanwha Ocean received from Greek shipowner Naftomar Shipping and Trading.

Under KRW 656.2 billion ($498 million) deal, the South Korean shipbuilder will construct four very large ammonia carriers (VLACs).

The firm has received $3 billion worth of ship orders so far this year, according to Yonhap. This represents 43 percent of its annual order target of $6.98 billion.

To remind, last September, Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), obtained approval in principle (AiP) from classification society Bureau Veritas (BV) for its design and development of an 86,000 cbm ammonia carrier with ammonia propulsion.

Ammonia is one of the main zero-carbon fuel options currently envisioned by shipping as the industry seeks to decarbonize. This is because it burns without emitting CO₂ and is zero-carbon “well-to-wake” when produced from renewable energy.