Samsung Heavy Industries has become the latest South Korea yard to confirm orders for shuttle tanker tonnage.
The shipbuilder has confirmed an order from Singapore-based tanker owner AET for three suezmax-capacity vessels in a deal worth KRW 361bn ($299m), according to a regulatory filing.
The ships are due to be delivered by July 2022. While Samsung did not disclose the identity of the buyer other than to say they were Asian, AET officials confirmed to TradeWinds that they were behind the order.
TradeWinds reported in early February that AET was ordering shuttle tankers at Samsung.
The three DP-rated tankers were ordered on the back of long-term time charter contracts from Brazilian oil major Petrobras under a contract worth $525.6m.
Petrobras is understood to have fixed the vessels, which will use conventional fuels, for 10 years, with an option to extend the hire for a further five years at rates in the high $40,000 per day range.
Samsung has set its order target for this year at $8.4bn, up 18% from last year’s total orders of $7.1bn.
Last month Samsung rival DSME won an order for two LNG-fueled shuttle tankers from Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS (KNOT).
They were ordered on the back of a long-term time-charter contract from Italy’s Eni Trading & Shipping for delivery in 2022 for deployment in the North Sea.
