South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries has won orders to build in total 14 LNG carriers worth about $3 billion.
Samsung Heavy said it would build 12 174,000-cbm LNG carriers for an owner based in Bermuda and two LNG tankers for an African owner.
According to Samsung Heavy, the twelve LNG carriers are worth about 3.33 trillion won (2.57 billion) or about $214 million per vessel.
The shipbuilder will deliver these ships by July 2026.
As per the two LNG carriers, they have a price tag of 554.3 billion won ($429 million) or about $214.5 million and Samsung Heavy will deliver them by December 2024.
Samsung Heavy said this order is the largest single shipbuilding deal ever in South Korea.
With this latest order, the shipbuilder has won orders for 33 ships worth $6.3 billion so far this year, or 72 percent of its yearly target.
Giant Qatari LNG shipbuilding program
Samsung Heavy did not disclose whether these orders are related to the giant Qatari LNG program.
In March 2021, QatarEnergy launched a tender to a large group of owners for the chartering of LNG carriers for its future requirements.
The LNG producing giant signed deals with South Korea’s biggest three shipbuilders, including DSME, Hyundai Heavy, and Samsung Heavy, to secure more than 100 vessels worth about $19.2 billion.
Earlier this month, DSME said it has won orders for four 174,000-cbm LNG carriers related to the massive shipbuilding program by state-run QatarEnergy. Hyundai Heavy Industries also won a contract to build two 174,000-cbm LNG carriers related to this program.
The price tag for each of these vessels is about $214.5 million, the same as for the new Samsung Heavy orders.
Two shipbuilding sources told LNG Prime that Global Meridian Holdings, part of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, is behind the order for the 12 LNG carriers and this order is related to the Qatari tender.
Moreover, a Korean consortium consisting of H-Line Shipping, Pan Ocean, and SK Shipping, placed the order for the two LNG carriers at Samsung Heavy, the sources said.
This consortium also placed the order for the four LNG carriers at DSME as part of QatarEnergy’s program.
One source said that more announcements are expected to follow as QatarEnergy has declared 18 slots each at DSME and Samsung Heavy as well as 17 slots at Hyundai Heavy under the program.
(Article updated to add more information regarding the owners of the vessels.)