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Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. revealed on Thursday, April 1, that it had signed new contracts for deals amounting to $500 million or KRW566 billion. The company said there was an order to build seven ships for customers from Europe, Asia, and Africa.
With the new multi-million orders, it seems that the KSOE has been breaking the bank this year. This is because the largest shipbuilding company in the world that was formerly known as Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., continues to get big orders, and it never stops pouring.
Why orders keep coming to KSOE
As per Korea Joongang Daily, the deluge of orders coming to Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. is all thanks to the stricter environmental regulations. The outlet stated that
shipping firms are preparing for marine fuel policies that will require vessels to be environmentally friendly.
South Korea is known to have advanced technology and boasts of an excellent track record for successful deliveries. These traits gave KSOE a big edge over its shipbuilder competitors like China. Plus, the company always presents competitive prices that will be hard to beat.
In fact, three of S. Korea’s biggest shipbuilders obtained contracts worth $11.8 billion, and this was only from January to March orders. This is said to be a big increase compared to 2020 in the same period when there was only $2.1 billion worth of deals.
KSOE’s seven new ship orders
Pulse News reported that the seven ships that KSOE needs to deliver include two units of 91,000 cubic-meter liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers, two units of 98,000 cubic-meter very large ethane carriers (VLECs), two units of 50,000-ton petroleum carriers, and one 23,000 cubic-meter LPG ship.
KSOE’s unit, Hyundai Heavy Industries, will be building two VLECs at its dockyard in Ulsan, South Korea, and these are expected to complete and be delivered by the last quarter of 2022.
It was mentioned that the orders for VLECs that measure 230 meters long, 36.6 meters wide, and 22.8 meters high were the first ones in the world for this type of ship.
Meanwhile, the ships’ target dates for delivery are in 2022 and 2023. All in all, KSOE has secured a total of $5.9 billion orders from January to March of this year, and this is for 69 vessels.
