Samsung Heavy bags 3.9 tln-won order for 14 LNG carriers

SEOUL, June 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Wednesday it has clinched a 3.9 trillion-won (US$3 billion) order to build 14 liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers in the Bermudas and Africa.

Samsung Heavy said it will construct 12 174,000-cubic-meter LNG carriers worth 3.33 trillion won for an unidentified Bermudan shipper and two additional LNG vessels for an African shipping company.

Samsung Heavy said it marks the single largest shipbuilding contract that local shipyards have ever won so far. In March last year, the shipyard obtained a record 2.8 trillion-won order to build 20 container carriers.

The shipbuilder, however, refused to disclose whether the deal is related to Qatar's ambitious plan to sharply boost its LNG production capacity in the coming years.

Two years ago, Samsung Heavy and two other Korean shipbuilders -- Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. -- signed a $19 billion contract with Qatar's state-owned oil and gas company Qatar Petroleum to construct more than 100 LNG vessels through 2027.

With this latest order, Samsung Heavy has won orders for 33 ships worth $6.3 billion so far this year, or 72 percent of its yearly order target.

Samsung Heavy, the world's third-largest shipbuilder by order backlog, said the company will easily achieve its order target for this year thanks to brisk market conditions for LNG carriers.

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