[Yonhap News Agency /January 29, 2023] HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (HD KSOE) said Monday it has received a 230 billion-won (US$172 million) order to build a very large ethane carrier (VLEC) for a shipper in Asia.

The VLEC vessel will be built at the shipyard of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. in Ulsan, 299 kilometers southeast of Seoul, for delivery by March 2027, HD KSOE said in a regulatory filing.

The company didn't identify the name of the shipper.

HD Hyundai, formerly known as Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, has HD KSOE as a subholding company under its wing.

With this latest order, the country's leading shipbuilder has achieved 25.4 percent, or $3.17 billion, of its annual order target of $13.5 billion for the year, the statement said.