Hyundai Samho wins $2.05bn order for 12 methanol-fuelled boxships
February is starting in the shipbuilding world in the same fashion as many months prior – with an avalanche of container and LNG orders.
Hyundai Samho in South Korea has announced a $2.05bn order for 12 methanol-propelled large boxships – all due for delivery by the end of 2026. The yard did not reveal the identity of the owner, with Splash tipping CMA CGM and Maersk as likely repeat customers for this comparatively new method of propulsion.
Splash understands that South Korea’s flagship carrier, HMM, will shortly announce its own series of methanol-fuelled boxships.
Analysis from class society DNV shows methanol was the second most popular alternative fuel choice for newbuild orders last year after LNG, with 35 ships ordered, bringing the total count to 82 ships.
In Splash’s annual maritime tech preview, many respondents identified 2023 as the year that methanol steps up to become shipping’s main alternative fuel.
“We are seeing an increase in traction for methanol and in my opinion this will be the year that methanol is embraced by the wider industry which includes shipowners, suppliers like engine-makers and tank and infrastructure in the main bunkering ports,” commented Carl Schou, president of Wilhelmsen Ship Management.
Meanwhile, rival yard Samsung Heavy Industries said today it had won a $495m order to build two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers for an unnamed Oceanian shipper.
Samsung Heavy said in a regulatory filing that it will deliver the vessels by the start of 2027 with Korea’s top yards increasingly full for the coming three years with container and LNG orders and little room for bulker and tanker owners to order there.