South Korean shipbuilders Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) have landed orders for the construction of seven and four liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, respectively.
DSME said in a regulatory filing with the Korea Exchange it would build the 174,000 cu m units for an undisclosed Africa-based shipowner, who is paying close to $1.5bn to have the vessels delivered by February 2026.
In two separate filings, compatriot SHI revealed an order worth about $427m from an African shipowner for two LNG carriers set to deliver by March 2025, and a $428m deal for another pair which should be delivered to an undisclosed Bermuda-based shipowner by September of the same year.
Neither yard disclosed whether the vessels are earmarked for QatarEnergy’s massive LNG carrier shipbuilding program, to which it signed up in June 2020 along with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). DSME and SHI have been assigned to build more than 50 LNG ships so far this year.
