South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries has firmed up an order with Russia’s Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex for five Arc7 LNG carrier newbuildings.
Sources following the business said the "supply contract" was signed with Zvezda last week.
It coincides with an announcement by SHI on Monday that it has secured an LNG carrier order worth $1.5bn. This would price the ships at about $300m each.
'Eurasian' clients
SHI did not name its client, simply referring to them as being from the Eurasian region.
The company gave a delivery date of September 2022.
Earlier this year, SHI was selected to help Zvezda build the country’s first full-sized LNG carriers at a domestic facility.
Russia’s Novatek is developing the 19.8 million tonnes per annum Arctic LNG 2 project and has reserved 15 slots at Zvezda to build the ice-breaking vessels.
Sovcomflot (SFC) has signed a deal to construct the first pilot Arc7 LNG newbuilding at the yard.
This second generation of ice-breaking LNG carriers will be built to a new design, using a version of GTT’s Mark III cargo containment system.
The ships will be operated and managed by Maritime Arctic Transport, a joint venture between Novatek, Sovcomflot, Cosco and China's Silk Road Fund.
First generation
DSME built the first generation of Arc7s for Novatek’s Yamal LNG project. These vessels were priced at about $340m each.
The last of these 172,600-cbm, NO 96-type ships is due to arrive at Sabetta in the Russian Arctic this week.
Shipbuilders are battling to add to their orderbooks in what has proved a year of slim pickings for newbuildings.
On paper, SHI has proved more adept at racking up the numbers, inking $6.9bn worth of orders in 2019, or 88% of its $7.8bn target.
But brokers added that the Arc7 deal is not a conventional order as SHI will be teaming up with Zvezda to help the newly-emerging Russian yard get to grips with a complex type of LNG carrier.
