Korean shipyard lands massive multi-million shipbuilding deal

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE), a major South Korean shipyard, said on September 5 that it has clinched a 391.7 billion won (US$286 million) order to build three very large liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers for a Liberia-based shipper.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a KSOE affiliate, will construct the 88,000-cubic-meter LPG vessels at its shipyard in the southeastern port of Ulsan, KSOE said in a regulatory filing, according to Yonhap.

The LNG carriers will be delivered to the undisclosed shipping firm in stages by the second half of 2024, KSOE said.

The contract carries an option to construct two additional LPG carriers for the shipping company, the shipyard added.

The deal came days after KSOE bagged a contract to build 45,000-cubic-meter LPG carriers for a European shipper.

According to global market researcher Clarkson Research Service, the volume of maritime LPG cargo is forecast to reach 117 million tons this year, which will rise 3 per cent on year to 121 million tons in 2023.

KSOE, a sub-holding company of the shipbuilding, oil refining and machinery conglomerate HD Hyundai, formerly Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, has three major affiliates -- Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co.