South Korea’s Hyundai Glovis Co has been named as the shipowner behind an order for a single LNG carrier priced at KRW 260bn ($217m) announced by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co (KSOE).
Industry sources following the business said logistics and shipowning company Hyundai Glovis contracted the vessel on the back of time-charter business with Australian energy company Woodside.
Full details of the charter have yet to emerge. But market players indicate that Woodside has been looking at seven-year periods.
On Monday, KSOE said it had won an order for a 174,000-cbm LNG carrier that will be built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries. But it did not name the contracting party for the ship.
The shipbuilder said the vessel will be delivered in the second half of 2024. There is hot competition for LNG carrier berths at South Korean yards, with 2024 described as sold out and 2025 positions largely reserved.
Hyundai Glovis confirmed the order to TradeWinds but said a charter on the vessel is still under discussion.
The South Korean owner, which is controlled by Hyundai Motor Group, is largely known for its large car carrier fleet. But it also operates bulkers, chemical carriers and more recently moved into VLCCs, ordering several vessels against charters.
In 2019, the company had a brush with LNG shipping, closing $420m sale-and-leaseback deals on the 173,000-cbm LNG carriers Flex Endeavour and Flex Enterprise (both built 2018).
In its February fourth-quarter results statement, Flex said it is going to refinance the Flex Endeavour and would likely also look at the Flex Enterprise.
This week’s order looks set to be its first LNG carrier for its own account.
KSOE has netted 37 newbuilding orders to date since the start of January, worth $4.37bn and equating to 25% of the shipbuilding group’s $17.4bn order target for 2022.
