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HD KSOE secures $371 million order for four LNG bunkering vessels

Published: 10 Feb. 2025, 15:49 Updated: 10 Feb. 2025, 16:07

LEE JAE-LIM
[email protected]

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessel manufactured at HD Hyundai Mipo in 2024. [HD KOREA SHIPBUILDING & OFFSHORE ENGINEERING]

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) secured an order for four liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessels worth 538.3 billion won ($371 million) with an African shipping company.

The Korean shipyard announced via electronic disclosure on Monday that the four 18,000-cubic-meter (635,664-cubic-feet) vessels will be delivered by 2028.

The ships will be 143 meters (469 feet) long, 25.2 meters wide and 12.9 meters high. They will be manufactured at HD Hyundai Mipo shipyard in Ulsan.

The demand for LNG bunkering is anticipated to surge as environmental regulations by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) tighten.

The number of vessels using LNG as propulsion fuel, excluding LNG carriers, is projected to rise 149 percent by 2033 to 1,174 from 2023’s 472, according to the Korea LNG Bunkering Industry Association.

Global annual consumption of LNG for bunkering is expected to reach 15 million tons by 2028.

An LNG bunkering vessel is a specialized ship that supplies LNG fuel to other ships via the “ship-to-ship” method at sea, eliminating the need to install additional fuel storage facilities at ports and allowing for large-scale fueling.

HD KOSE has been expanding its presence in this market, having secured orders for two 18,000-cubic-meter and one 12,500-cubic-meter LNG bunkering vessels in September 2024, followed by four more 18,000-cubic-meter vessels in November.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]