Korea Shipbuilding bags cargo ship orders valued at combined 511 bln won

orea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Monday it has secured 511 billion won (US$428.4 million) in orders to build five cargo vessels.

Under the two separate deals, KSOE will build three 7,900 twenty-foot equivalent unit liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered container ships and two 50,000-ton petrochemical carriers for unidentified shippers in Asia, according to the company.

The container ships will be delivered to the ship owner from the first half of 2024, and the petrochemical carriers will be delivered in the second half of 2023.

The shipbuilder said it has won orders worth about $2.9 billion to build 24 vessels this year, achieving about 16.7 percent of its annual target of $17.4 billion.

KSOE is the world’s biggest shipbuilder by order backlog and has three affiliates — Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. — under its wing.

Meanwhile, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., a smaller rival, said in a regulatory filing it has won an order worth 247.7 billion won to build a large LNG carrier, without giving details on the client.

The ship will be delivered by the end of 2024, it said.

The latest order puts the cumulative value of Daewoo’s orders this year to date at $1.17 billion.

Last week, the European Union antitrust regulator vetoed Hyundai Heavy Industries Group’s proposed acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., saying the tie-up could create a monopoly in the LNG carrier market.