Hyundai Heavy Industries informed that it has secured a 320 billion won (US$286 million) deal to construct three very large crude carriers (VLCCs). Hyundai Heavy will deliver the vessels, feach being 330 meters long and 60 meters wide, beginning in the second half of 2020.
According to Yonhap news agency, Hyundai Heavy and its two affiliates aspire to win $15.9 billion worth of shipbuilding deals in 2019, marking an increase of 21% from 2018.
Last year, they won $14 billion worth of deals to build 163 ships, overpassing their annual order target of $13.2 billion.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
The news comes at a time of an optimistic forecast for South Korean shipbuilders, who had been struggling for years amid global economic downturn and Chinese competition, but they eventually met their order targets in 2018 and took again the lead over China on global shipbuilding orders.
The three major shipbuilders, along with other smaller South Korean shipyards, won 94% of the 80 LNG carriers ordered worldwide last year, according to the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
On the top of this, IMO’s 2020 sulphur cap is also expected to boost demand for LNG, as it is considered to be one of the available options for compliance with the regulation.
