[Korea Economic Daily/ September 7, 2023] HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE), the intermediate holding company of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, is set to become the first shipbuilder in the world to build the industry’s largest ammonia carriers, lifting its orders received so far this year above its full-year target.

The world’s No. 1 shipbuilder recently bagged a combined $466 million in orders from Singapore’s Eastern Pacific Shipping and Greece-based Capital Ship Management to build a total of four very large gas carriers (VLGCs), KSOE said during the Gastech Conference 2023 in Singapore this week.

The conference is an annual event held primarily for energy companies.

The vessel measures 88,000 cubic meters, the world’s largest VLGC, with a cargo capacity of 98%, bigger than the maximum capacity of 86% for the existing gas carriers.

KSOE will first build two of them in its Ulsan dockyard and deliver them in the second half of 2027, one each for the two shipping companies.

The 88,000-cubic-meter ammonia carriers are liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) dual-fuel propulsion ships. If ammonia propulsion engines are developed later on, the vessels can be converted into ammonia-fueled ships.

If so, they will become the world’s first ammonia carriers with ammonia-fueled propulsion.

Including the new-build orders, KSOE has secured a combined $15.9 billion in orders for 122 vessels, above its entire 2023 target of $15.7 billion, thanks to the rapid rise in gas carrier prices.