[Yonhap/January 6, 2025] HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (HD KSOE) started its export activities for 2025 on Monday with the delivery of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, according to the company.

According to HD KSOE, the vessel being delivered is a 174,000㎥ LNG carrier ordered in June 2022 by an undisclosed Asian shipping company.

The carrier was completed over a period of 2 1/2 years at a shipyard owned by affiliate HD Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province.

Other affiliates of HD KSOE -- HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. -- also plan to begin the delivery of two vessels, a 16,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container ship and a 2,800 TEU container ship, respectively, this week, the company said.

Last year, HD KSOE successfully delivered a total of 144 vessels. For 2025, the company plans to deliver 139 vessels.

HD KSOE expects an improvement in profitability this year as many of the ships scheduled to be delivered this year were ordered after 2022, when international ship prices began to rise.