South Korean LNG carrier orders slow in May

The three major South Korean shipbuilders took no firm LNG carrier orders in May, marking five months since orders were made.

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) did receive one order for a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), but had not received any carrier orders since a single vessel order placed in December.

And although DSME — together with Korean Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering (KSOE) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) — did receive a significant tranche of capacity reservations from state-owned Qatar Petroleum over the month, none of the builders have yet received firm orders from the Qatari state-owned firm for its Ras Laffan expansion.

The reservations — if converted to firm orders — could almost double the three firms' combined orderbook, but with deliveries likely to run until 2027, the builders would be unlikely close in on their respective capacities. The bulk of the South Korean LNG carrier orderbook is scheduled to be delivered in 2020-22, leaving ample capacity in 2022-27 to absorb orders from Qatar.

Orders are also expected from the Novatek-led 19.8mn t/yr Arctic LNG 2 project — totalling around 10 carriers — and the Total-led 12.88mn t/yr Mozambique LNG project — totalling around 12 vessels. Most orders are widely expected to be placed with South Korean builders, although China's Hudong-Zhonghua was heard to be in contention for at least some of Arctic LNG 2's planned orders.

Orderbooks shrink

A lack of new orders in May, against five deliveries, meant the combined orderbook shrank over the month to 114 from 118 — inclusive of DSME's FSRU order, with the firm not separating its carrier and FSRU order backlog, unlike KSOE and SHI.

But the orderbook remained well above year earlier levels at the end of May, following quick orders made at KSOE's Hyundai Heavy and Hyundai Samho yards and SHI in December last year.

There are three firm deliveries scheduled for June, one of which — the 174,000m³ Qogir on charter to Total from Greek owner TMS Cardiff — was made on 1 June. The 180,000m³ Traiano Knutsen is set to go straight into a term charter with Italy's Enel from Hyundai Heavy's Ulsan yard, and the 173,400m³ Excelerate Sequoia FSRU is scheduled to be delivered from DSME's Okpo yard for use at Pakistan's Port Qasim, where it will replace the incumbent 150,900m³ Exquisite unit.

There are a further five carriers that may be delivered from South Korean yards in June-July, having already started gas or sea trials in May-early June.

By Samuel Good

South Korean orderbook #