Japanese shipping company Iino Kaiun has been named as the company behind a fresh order for one LPG carrier at Hanwha Ocean.
The Okpo-based shipbuilder announced on Wednesday that it had won a contract for a single LPG carrier worth KRW 317.2bn ($127m) and it is scheduled to deliver the gas tanker by the first quarter of 2027.
Hanwha did not disclose the name of the buyer but said the company is based in America.
Shipbuilding brokers said based on the price disclosed by Hanwha Ocean, the unnamed company has ordered a dual-fuel VLGC.
Gas players following the shipbuilding market think Japan’s Iino Kaiun is behind the VLGC newbuilding contract.
They believe it has ordered the ship against long-term charter contract from Austrian chemical company Borealis.
An Iino official said his company does not comment on market reports.
The last time Iino ordered VLGC newbuilding at the Okpo-based shipyard was in 2021 when the shipbuilder was known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
The shipyard delivered the 91,000-cbm LPG ship called Oceanus Aurora in March 2023 and the vessel is time chartered out to Borealis for three years.
Iino is due to take delivery of two very large ethane carriers (VLECs) from Hyundai Heavy Industries in October 2025 and January 2026. The newbuilding price of the VLECs was not reported.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Iino was founded in 1899. It has a fleet of 92 vessels that include including four VLCCs, 36 chemical tankers, 20 dry bulk carriers, eight large gas carriers and 24 small gas carriers.
Hanwha Ocean said it has secured a total of 16 newbuildings worth $4.1bn. The orders included 12 LNG carriers, two VLCCs, two VLACs and one LPG carrier.
Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., set sail as the shipbuilding arm of chemical-to-defense industry conglomerate Hanwha Group in May last year.
