Energy trader BGN has returned to South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries for two VLGC newbuildings, bringing the total it has ordered there to four.
Shipbuilding specialists named the emerging shipowner as the Middle East company behind the order for the 88,000-cbm vessels that HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) announced on 8 July.
Gas specialists believe the quartet will be trading in the joint venture gas shipping company that BGM formed with Indonesia’s Pertamina International Shipping in 2023.
This latest order is believed to be one of the most expensive VLGCs newbuilding contracts signed this year.
While the shipbuilder did not disclose the buyer’s name or size of the VLGCs, it valued the contract at KRW 343bn ($248m), or $124m per ship.
BGN is therefore paying 5% more for these latest newbuildings than for the earlier two VLGCs it ordered in January, which were reported to have cost $118m each.
The last two gas ships ordered at the yard earlier this month were two very large ammonia carriers for Maersk Tankers, priced at $118.4m apiece.
Greece’s Atlas Maritime paid $124m each for three 93,000-cbm LPG-fuelled VLGCs in March, and Alpha Gas paid $125.5m each for two LPG-powered units in January.
All of these were contracted at HD KSOE yards.
Ulsan-based HD HHI is scheduled to deliver BGN’s quartet in 2027.
HD KSOE — the holding company for HD HHI, Hyundai Samho and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard — said it has contracted 122 ships this year, including one offshore unit, worth $12.95bn, achieving 95.9% of its annual target of $13.5bn.
