Greek shipowner TMS Cardiff Gas is being named as the shipowner behind an order for two LNG carrier newbuildings worth KRW 595.5bn ($423.8m) at South Korean yard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering backed by long-term charters with Middle East producing giant QatarEnergy.
DSME reported on Thursday that it had secured the two LNG vessels with the value giving a per ship price of $211.9m.
The shipbuilder, which did not name the owner contracting the vessels, said the LNG carriers are due for delivery by the third quarter of 2026.
Those following the business indicate that the two ships are understood to be backed by Greek shipowner TMS Cardiff Gas.
DSME had been expected to secure eight more LNG carrier newbuildings under the pre-reserved berths for QatarEnergy’s huge shipbuilding program.
This month TradeWinds named the companies expected to sign up as George Economou-controlled TMS Cardiff Gas, Japan’s Meiji Shipping and Petronas’ shipowning company MISC from Malaysia.
But at the time it was unclear how the eight vessels would be divided up between the three shipowners.
These eight incoming vessels at DSME will signal the conclusion of phase one of QatarEnergy’s shipbuilding program in Korea, where the liquefaction company has pre-reserved slots and options for up to 45 LNG vessels at each of the country’s three major yards — DSME, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries.
To date, DSME has won contracts to build 36 vessels and one offshore plant this year amounting to $8.6bn of work or 97% of the shipbuilder’s $8.9bn target for the year.
