Korea Shipbuilding in clover as newbuilding orders keep pouring in

South Korean shipbuilder Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering has reported a surge of orders over the past week hitting a head-spinning $2.2 billion (KRW 2.45 trillion) in value.

The latest contract revealed today includes an order for four container ships. The boxships were ordered by an unnamed European owner and will be built by KSOE’s Hyundai Samho subsidiary. They are slated for delivery by the end of January 2023.

The contract is worth KRW 451.2 billion ( $408.9 million).

Additionally, contracts were won for 3 LNG carriers, two from a company based in Oceania and one from a Panama-based firm. They have a total value of over KRW 603 billion, KSOE revealed in a regulatory filing today.

One LNG carrier is slated for delivery in 2023 and two in 2024.

Last week KSOE reported orders for 2 LNG carriers worth KRW 406 billion, ordered by an unnamed owner from Asia. The LNG carriers are scheduled for completion by mid-October 2024.

Two more LNG carriers were ordered, each worth KRW 203.1 billion and scheduled for handover in 2024.

Industry reports indicate that the LNG carrier quartet is backed by time-charters by Shell.

According to Clarksons, three sister vessels will be built at Hyundai Heavy Industries, and one by Hyundai Samho. The shipbroker said that two LNG carriers were ordered by Pan Ocean.

The ordering tally from last week also includes contracts for 6 VLCC.

Four VLCC were ordered by an unnamed shipowner based in Europe, while two were ordered from Hyundai Samho from an Asian-based shipping partner. The two contracts total KRW 586 billion.

The delivery of all four VLCC newbuilds is expected in 2022.

Clarksons reported that clients of Athenian Carriers are behind two firm and two conditional 300k dwt vessels, while Hyundai Glovis ordered a VLCC pair for onward employment to Hyundai Oilbank.