Hyundai Heavy receives order for three LNG carriers

South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has taken an order for three LNG carriers, with delivery scheduled by July 2024.

The order — placed by an unnamed Asian shipowner — was valued at around 636bn won, equivalent to around $190mn per vessel, slightly higher than most orders over the past six months.

HHI's LNG carrier order backlog was last reported to be around 26 vessels as of the end of February. With a single delivery from the firm's Ulsan shipyard since, the newly ordered trio will swell HHI's backlog to around 28 carriers. And sister firm Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries has around 26 LNG carriers on its own order sheet.

But orders at South Korean shipyards have been slow so far this year following a spate of quick orders in December, with only two other carriers ordered in January and none in February-March, although still quicker than in early 2020 when shipbuilders in the country did not receive their first orders of the year until July.

By Samuel Good