On December 2, Hanwha Ocean announced that it had signed a contract with an Oceania shipowner to build two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs). The total value of the order is approximately 375.3 billion won (about US$255 million), with a cost of about US$127.5 million per vessel. Delivery is expected before December 2028.
This is Hanwha Ocean’s second shipbuilding contract announced within a week. On November 28, the shipbuilder announced that it had received a contract from Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) for four 13,000 TEU liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel container ships, with a total cost of approximately US$730 million.
This year, Hanwha Ocean has been among the top in terms of new VLCC orders. The last time it announced a VLCC order was on November 24, with an order for four vessels to be made by Greek shipowner Maran Tankers.
Although Hanwha Ocean has not announced its annual order target for 2025, the company’s cumulative order volume is growing rapidly this year.
Including the latest contract, Hanwha Ocean has received orders for 43 new vessels worth approximately US$7.96 billion. These include 19 VLCCs, 17 container ships, 6 LNG carriers, and 1 icebreaking research vessel.