Benefiting from an increase in orders across its two major business segments—merchant vessels and offshore engineering—Hanwha Ocean’s order backlog has surpassed a value of 34 trillion KRW. Amid the current upcycle in the shipbuilding industry, the merchant vessel orders secured by Hanwha Ocean have already secured its production volume for the next three years, while the offshore wind power sector is projected to achieve robust growth, bolstered by supportive government policies.
On March 13, Hanwha Ocean released its latest business report, revealing that as of the end of 2025, the value of its order backlog reached 34.4951 trillion KRW (approximately US$23.032 billion)—a 19.3% increase quarter-on-quarter. In recent years, the value of Hanwha Ocean’s order backlog has continued its upward trajectory; following figures of 25.6579 trillion KRW in 2023 and 30.4319 trillion KRW in 2024, the total value surpassed the 34 trillion KRW mark by the end of 2025.
Hanwha Ocean stated that the growth in the value of its order backlog for 2025 was driven by the merchant vessel and offshore sectors. The report indicates that the value of the merchant vessel order backlog for the fourth quarter of 2025 reached 26.037 trillion KRW—an increase of 18.2% quarter-on-quarter—while the value of the offshore sector backlog rose from 511 billion KRW to 2.1869 trillion KRW, representing a growth of 328%.
Orders for high value-added merchant vessels drive profit improvement.
During the Q4 2025 earnings conference call, a representative from Hanwha Ocean’s merchant vessel division revealed that in 2025, the company secured orders for a total of 50 new vessels—comprising 13 LNG carriers, 20 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), and 17 container ships—with a total order value of $9.55 billion.
In 2026, although Hanwha Ocean has not disclosed specific order targets, it is expected to maintain an order backlog of over three years by year-end.
Hanwha Ocean further noted that the orders for LNG carriers under the Qatar project—secured in 2022 at relatively low profit margins and vessel prices—are currently being gradually replaced by orders commanding higher vessel prices, thereby ensuring robust profit margins. Furthermore, high-priced tanker and container ship projects secured from 2024 onwards are increasing their share of total revenue, which is expected to further boost operating profit margins.
According to Clarkson data, although newbuild prices have experienced a slight pullback following a period of sustained growth, they remain at elevated levels. Driven by shipyard capacity constraints and demand for eco-friendly vessels, both order volumes and ship prices are expected to remain stable.
Growth in Offshore Engineering Orders
Hanwha Ocean stated that the most noteworthy development to watch in 2025 is the growth in orders within its offshore/energy sector. Last December, Hanwha Ocean announced that it had secured an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) turnkey contract for an offshore wind project valued at 1.9716 trillion KRW; building upon this foundation, the company’s offshore division is poised to achieve growth in both order volume and scale.
During the execution of the offshore wind EPC contract, Hanwha Ocean plans to entrust core supply chain activities—including the manufacturing of submarine cables and foundations, as well as offshore installation—to domestic Korean partners, thereby stimulating the growth of the domestic industry and creating jobs within Korea. Concurrently, leveraging this project, Hanwha Ocean will independently construct Korea’s first offshore wind installation vessel capable of deploying large-scale wind turbines in the 15-megawatt (MW) class.
This wind turbine installation vessel was ordered by Ocean Wind Power 1, a subsidiary of Hanwha Ocean. The shipbuilding contract—valued at approximately US$520 million—was announced on February 6 of this year, with delivery expected in the first half of 2028.