[LNG Prime / May 3, 2024] South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has won a contract to build two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers worth about $532 million.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering said on Friday that its unit HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will build the two 174,000-cbm LNG tankers for an owner in Africa. Hyundai Heavy will deliver the vessels by May 2028.

The order has a price tag of 733.4 billion won ($532 million) or about $266 million per vessel, which is the probably the highest price for a single 174,000-cbm LNG carrier for the shipbuilder.  KSOE did not reveal any additional information regarding the new order.

Hyundai Heavy won an order worth about $530 million for two LNG carriers from Greece’s Evalend Shipping in August 2023, marking the latter’s entry into the LNG sector, and another order for two LNG carriers worth about $530 million in November 2023.

KSOE said in both of t​hese order announcements that the owner was from Africa. Shipbuilding sources told LNG Prime that Evalend is most likely behind this new order as well.

This year, KSOE and its units have received orders for a total of 96 ships worth $11.1 billion, including eight LNG carriers and one FSRU. This is equivalent to 82.2 percent of the group’s annual order target of $13.5 billion.