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| LNG carrier built by Samsung Heavy Industries © News1 |
As soon as the key year begins, the Korean shipbuilding industry is taking a steadfast step. It is continuing the atmosphere of’relay orders’, which has continued since the end of last year. The industry expects that the Korean shipbuilding industry will continue to receive orders for LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) related vessels, which have a world-class manufacturing competitiveness.
According to the shipbuilding industry on the 6th, the Korean shipbuilding industry started a march this year with orders in the range of KRW 1 trillion in the new year. On the 5th, Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries, which are the shipbuilding holding companies of the Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, announced orders worth 891 billion won and 193 billion won respectively. Together, the two companies have won a total of KRW 1.90 trillion won. Looking at the detailed ship types, Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has won 6 orders for 15,000 TEU-class LNG-powered ultra-large container ships, and Samsung Heavy Industries has won an order for one LNG carrier.
Following the relay order at the end of last year, the industry is raising expectations for this year’s orders. Since the Korean shipbuilding industry has excellent competitiveness in manufacturing LNG-related ships, additional orders are expected to continue. In particular, as LNG carrier orders from Qatar are expected to come out in earnest from this year, the Korean shipbuilding industry is expected to steadily deliver news of LNG carrier orders.
Researchers Choi Kwang-sik and Jung Ji-hoon of Hi Investment & Securities said, “(from LNG carriers) the Korean shipbuilding industry has won orders for 20, 58, and 44 ships, respectively, for three years from 2017 to 2019, and it seems that last year also received 52 orders. Orders are expected to come out in Qatar, Nigeria and Mozambique.”
Hi Investment & Securities expects the number of LNG carriers to be ordered from 30 to 45 in Qatar, 12 in Nigeria and 15 in Mozambique, up to 72. Clarkson Research, a market research firm, also predicted that the annual average of 51 LNG carrier orders for the next five years (2021-2025). KB Investment & Securities also predicted that the Korean shipbuilding industry will receive orders for an average of 60 LNG carriers annually from this year.
The outlook for the super-large container ship order market for LNG is also bright. Expectations for container ship orders are expected to increase from last year, as demand for container ships using LNG, which generates less pollutants (nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides) as fuel, will also increase.
According to Clarkson Research, orders for global container ships this year are expected to escape from the slump due to last year’s Corona 19, and 187 orders will come out this year. In particular, in the manufacture of LNG-promoted merchant ships, Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding has received orders for 50 LNG-powered ships, the largest in the world so far, raising expectations for orders.
An official from Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering said, “The demand for eco-friendly ships is increasing due to the strengthening of environmental regulations. As long as the industry is expected to recover this year, we will focus on order-taking capabilities in LNG carriers and container ships.”