South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries announced nearly $5.5 billion in new shipbuilding orders within a week, including two floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) production units and one LNG carrier.
Signed FLNG Construction Contract
On June 8, Samsung Heavy Industries announced that it had signed a contract with an African shipowner to build a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit. The order is valued at approximately 3.6536 trillion won (about $2.38 billion) and is scheduled for delivery in 2028.
Samsung Heavy Industries stated that it has already signed a contract for preliminary work on this FLNG to ensure that construction can begin before the main FLNG construction contract is finalized. Previously, in July 2025, Samsung Heavy Industries signed a contract worth approximately $637 million with energy giant Eni for preliminary work on the Coral Norte FLNG project.
In accordance with the initial contract, the Coral Norte FLNG was launched earlier this year at Samsung Heavy Industries’ Geoje Shipyard. Construction of the topside modules is currently underway, followed by module installation and system commissioning. Upon delivery, the FLNG will be deployed at the Coral Norte project off the coast of Mozambique, for which a final investment decision (FID) was made in October 2025.
It is understood that this is the second ultra-large FLNG Samsung Heavy Industries is building for Eni; the Coral Sul FLNG, the first such project under their partnership, was delivered and commissioned in 2021. The Coral Norte FLNG currently under construction is 432 meters long and 66 meters wide.
Two FLNGs signed in a single week
It is worth noting that the signing of the Coral Sul FLNG construction contract marks Samsung Heavy Industries’ second FLNG order in a single week, with a total value exceeding $5.2 billion.
On June 2, U.S. LNG developer Delfin Midstream signed a construction contract with Samsung Heavy Industries for the Delfin FLNG 1 project. The order is valued at 4.3301 trillion won (approximately $2.85 billion), with delivery expected in July 2030. With a total investment of $5 billion, the project received Final Investment Decision (FID) on June 3. Upon completion, it will become the first FLNG facility in the United States, with a designed annual production capacity of 4.4 million tons.
Delfin Midstream initially issued a Letter of Award (LOA) to Samsung Heavy Industries for the Delfin FLNG 1 project in October 2025 and extended the LOA’s validity in early 2026. The FLNG was not officially finalized until the Final Investment Decision (FID) was made.
The Delfin LNG project is located in the Gulf of Mexico and plans to construct three FLNGs with a maximum annual LNG production capacity of 13.2 million metric tons. In addition to the first FLNG unit, which has already been finalized, Samsung Heavy Industries and Delfin Midstream have signed a ship slot reservation agreement for the second FLNG unit of the project and plan to jointly develop the third FLNG.
Signed Order for 1 LNG Carrier
In addition to the Coral Norte FLNG construction contract, Samsung Heavy Industries announced on June 8 that it had signed a contract with an Oceania-based shipowner to build one LNG carrier. The order is valued at 385.5 billion won (approximately $252 million), with delivery expected in January 2029.
According to market sources, this order is linked to Singapore-based Purus Marine. With the finalization of this new vessel, Purus Marine has now ordered four large LNG carriers from Samsung Heavy Industries. The remaining three vessels were announced in December 2025 (two vessels) and March 2026 (one vessel), with the total construction cost for all four exceeding $1 billion.
Including the two new Type 2 vessels announced on June 8, Samsung Heavy Industries has secured a total of 30 new ship orders this year, valued at approximately $9.6 billion, achieving 69% of its annual order target of $13.9 billion—far exceeding the company’s full-year order performance of $7.9 billion in 2025.
Specifically, in the merchant ship sector, Samsung Heavy Industries has secured orders for 28 new vessels worth $5.2 billion this year, achieving 91% of its annual target of $5.7 billion. These include 13 LNG carriers, 1 LNG-FSRU, 2 ethane carriers, 4 gas carriers, 2 container ships, and 6 crude oil tankers; In the offshore sector, Samsung Heavy Industries’ order value has reached $4.4 billion, achieving 54% of its annual target of $8.2 billion.