Korea’s major shipbuilders are landing orders for high-priced ships. They have already secured orders enough to keep them busy for the next three to four years, and their shipbuilding slots have already been fully filled. They are planning to selectively win orders for high-priced and high-value-added ships such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and eco-friendly fuel-powered ships in 2023.
Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), an intermediate shipbuilding holding company of HD Hyundai, announced on Feb. 1 that it recently signed a contract with a shipping company in Europe to build 12 methanol-powered super-large container ships. The contract value is 2,526.4 billion won. It is the largest order ever placed with a Korean shipbuilder in a single contract. This big deal was signed amid a sharp rise in orders for the replacement of old ships due to global carbon regulations.
KSOE’s order intake in the first month of 2023 reached US$3.7 billion, attaining 23 percent of its annual order target of US$15.74 billion.
Samsung Heavy Industries also booked US$2 billion in orders for high-end ships in one month. On Feb. 1, the shipbuilder announced that it signed a contract with a shipping company in Oceania to build two LNG carriers. The US$500 million deal boosted its order intake in January to US$2 billion. Earlier last month, it signed a deal to build one floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility worth US$1.5 billion.
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has not received any orders so far this year. DSME set its order target for 2023 at US$6.98 billion, down 32 percent from 2022.
