Korean shipbuilders could see a windfall of LNG carrier orders

[Photo by Samsung Heavy Industries Co.]

South Korea’s big 3 shipbuilders – Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries – have their hopes up to sweep up orders for as many as 30 LNG vessels in the pipeline to serve offshore gas fields in Africa and Russia.

The three Korean shipbuilders and two Japanese rivals are competing for orders from U.S. energy company Anadarko Petroleum, which needs 16 carriers to ship 12.88 million tons of LNG per year from the new field in Mozambique. Anadarko is set to place an order for 15 vessels in the third quarter.

Samsung Heavy Industries is likely to bag a new order soon as it was reportedly named a partner for the Arctic LNG-2 project led by Russia. Samsung Heavy will team up with Russian shipbuilder Zvezda to make ice-breaking LNG carriers for the project, industry newspaper TradeWinds reported. As the project partner, Samsung Heavy could be responsible for building 15 to 17 LNG carriers with the Mark III membrane system for gas containment and insulation. The ships will be reportedly delivered by 2025.

Daewoo Shipbuilding still has its hopes for additional orders from the Arctic LNG-2 project based on its record of being awarded with 15 LNG carriers worth $320 million each in 2014. The shipbuilder has so far delivered 10 of them.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]