South Korea’s shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering has received an order for seven new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.
DSME will build the 174,000-cbm LNG carriers for an unidentified owner in Africa and deliver them by February 2026.
According to the shipbuilder, the contract is worth about 2.03 trillion won ($1.5 billion) or some $214.2 million per vessel.
This deal is most likely related to the massive shipbuilding program by state-run QatarEnergy.
The price of about $214 million per vessel is almost identical to the four 174,000-cbm LNG carriers DSME won in June and which are part of the QatarEnergy program, as well as other orders at SHI and KSOE.
Shipbuilding sources said that a Korean consortium consisting of H-Line Shipping, Pan Ocean, and SK Shipping ordered these vessels under QatarEnergy’s program.
This consortium, or K3, also ordered the four LNG carriers at DSME in June.
DSME is expected to reveal another deal related to the QatarEnergy program soon, the sources said.
With this new order, DSME secured contracts worth about $8.17 billion for 36 ships this year, including six LNG-powered containerships and 28 LNG tankers.
DSME has now achieved more than 92 percent of its annual target of $8.9 billion.
Last year, the yard won about $10.8 billion in orders, exceeding its target of $7.7 billion.
(Article updated to add more information regarding the owners behind the order.)
