Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) has sealed orders for two VLGC newbuildings to be delivered by May 2026.
In a regulatory filing, the South Korean group said an “Oceanian” company has ordered the gas carriers, which will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries — at one of the three shipyards under its control.
KSOE did not disclose the identity of the buyer but said the order is worth KRW 252.8bn ($197.6m), or $98.8m per ship.
Shipbuilding and broking players following KSOE’s activities said Latsco Shipping of Greece is behind the LPG dual-fuel newbuildings.
According to the sources, these are optional units that Latsco held when it ordered its first pair of VLGCs at the shipyard in December last year. Those vessels are due to be delivered in August and November 2025.
The price at which KSOE announced its latest two newbuildings is identical, in dollar terms, to the price at which Latsco ordered its first two ships in December.
Managers at Athens-based Latsco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
KSOE, a subsidiary of HD Hyundai — previously known as Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings — is the holding company for HHI, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.
The group has set a $15.74bn newbuilding order target for its three shipyards this year, down by 10% from 2022.
Hyundai yards have so far contracted 33 newbuildings worth $4.83bn, which is about 31% of its annual target.
Early this month, KSOE reported a net loss of KRW 295.2bn for 2022 despite sales rising by 11.7% to KRW 17.3trn.
The net loss was a huge improvement on the previous year’s KRW 1.14trn deficit.
The operating loss was KRW 355.6bn, down from KRW 1.38trn.
KSOE said a weaker won against the US dollar and falling materials costs helped lower the losses sharply and improve its bottom line.
The group believes its 2023 results will improve due to “heavy tail” payments from delivering vessels contracted in 2021.
Harry Papachristou
contributed to this article
