South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries has secured orders for five new gas and crude carriers, with a value of around USD 600 million, in recent weeks.
The shipbuilder said that the units were ordered by European and Asian ship owners and include three gas carriers and two crude oil carriers.
An undisclosed Greek shipping company recently signed a contract for the construction of a 174,000 cbm LNG carrier. At the end of March, Hyundai Heavy reached agreements to build one LNG carrier for a Japanese owner, one LPG carrier for a compatriot company, and two crude oil carriers for Greek shipping firms.
Furthermore, Hyundai Heavy said it expects to receive additional orders for large-scale LNG carriers during 2019 on the back of an increasing LNG orderbook amid recent tightening of environmental regulations.
Worldwide orders reached 32.2 million CGT last year, up 14 percent from 28.1 million CGT recorded in 2017, HHI cited data from Clarksons.
This trend is expected to continue in the future, and the global order volume in 2023 is expected to reach 44.6 million CGT, the company continued. In 2019, the development of LNG projects in Russia and Qatar is expected to be will be full-fledged.