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Kogas said in a filing to the stock exchange that the Seoul Central District Court ruled that the company and its unit KCLNG Tech must pay approximately 299.6 billion won ($204 million) to Samsung Heavy.
This lawsuit is an action for indemnity in which Samsung Heavy sought reimbursement from Kogas for the amount of damages paid by the shipbuilder to SK Shipping concerning two LNG vessels equipped with the KC-1 cargo tanks.
The LNG carriers in question are the 174,100-cbm SK Serenity and SK Spica, both delivered in 2018.
In 2023, a London-based arbitration tribunal ruled that Samsung Heavy Industries should compensate SK Shipping with $290 million dollars in damages relating to defects in the cargo holds of the two LNG carriers.
After that, Samsung Heavy filed a lawsuit against Kogas in 2024, seeking reimbursement from the latter for the amount of damages it paid to SK Shipping.
Kogas said in the filing that the court “rendered a judgment ordering the payment of damages, recognizing the corporation’s liability up to the amount of the judgment.”
“We will respond in accordance with legal procedures in consultation with the legal representative,” Kogas said.
It is worth noting that Samsung Heavy delivered a 7,500-cbm LNG carrier equipped with its KC-2C LNG cargo tank in October last year.
Samsung Heavy said this is the first time that it has installed the KC-2C tech on a commercial LNG carrier.
The vessel in question is the 2019-built LNG bunkering and supply vessel SM Jeju LNG1, owned by Korea Line and chartered by Kogas.
This vessel was previously equipped with Korean type KC-1 cargo hold as part of a national project aimed at the localization of core technology for LNG cargo holds.