On April 17, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), the intermediate holding company for HD Hyundai Group’s shipbuilding business, announced that it had signed a contract with a Middle Eastern shipping company to build four Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGCs), with a total order value of 674.7 billion won (approximately US$460 million) and a cost of approximately US$115 million per vessel.
The new vessels will be built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and are expected to be delivered to the shipowner in the second half of 2029.
This is HD KSOE’s second shipbuilding contract announced this week. On April 16, the shipbuilder announced four new vessels of two types, totaling approximately $506 million, including two 93,000 cubic meter VLGCs ordered by Turkey’s Aygaz and two car carriers ordered by Israel’s Ray Car Carriers. In total, eight new vessels were announced over the two days, with a total cost of approximately US$966 million.
With the latest orders, HD KSOE has secured orders for 76 new ships worth US$8.21 billion so far this year, achieving 35.2% of its annual order target of US$23.31 billion.
Classified by vessel type, the fleet includes 12 liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, 20 container ships, 15 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)/ammonia carriers, 7 crude oil carriers, 20 product tankers, and 2 car carriers.