South Korean shipbuilding giant Samsung Heavy Industries has won a new order to build two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.
The new contract has a price tag of 589.7 billion won ($431 million) or about $215.5 million per vessel.
SHI said it would deliver the two LNG carriers to an unidentified African owner by March 2026.
It did not provide any additional information.
The price of about $215 million per vessel is almost the same as the price for the 14 174,000-cbm LNG carriers SHI won in June and for the four LNG carriers in September.
These orders placed by Global Meridian Holdings, part of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and a Korean consortium consisting of H-Line Shipping, Pan Ocean, and SK Shipping, are all related to the massive shipbuilding program by state-run QatarEnergy.
Shipbuilding sources told LNG Prime that Greece’s Minerva Gas is likely behind this order for the two new LNG carriers.
Minerva Gas, a unit of Andreas Martinos-led Minerva Marine, recently took delivery of the 174,000-cbm LNG carrier, Minerva Amorgos, from SHI, the final LNG carrier in a batch of three vessels SHI built for the Greek firm.
Including this newest contract, SHI secured orders for 41 ships worth about $7.8 billion this year.
This includes 30 LNG carriers, marking a record for the largest number of orders for LNG carriers in a year for the shipbuilder.
The yard has set an order target of $8.8 billion this year and now has achieved 89 percent of the target.
In 2021, Samsung won orders worth $12.2 billion, surpassing its annual target of $9.1 billion by about $3.1 billion. The yard won contracts for 22 LNG carriers last year.
(Article updated to add more information regarding the owner behind the order.)