As order inquiries regarding liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, container ships, and super-large crude oil carriers are rising, analysts say their outlook for 2021 is bright (VLCCs).

On Dec. 16, Hyundai Heavy Industries reported that it had received orders worth one trillion won for six ships. Four 174,000-cubic-metre LNG carriers and two 310,000-tonne VLCCs are the six boats.

The unit price is US$186 million for LNG carriers and US$89 million for VLCCs. The new ships will be designed by Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and delivered by the second half of 2024 to customers, including Shell.

Since early November, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group has won orders for a total of 24 ships. Its cumulative order receipts reached US$7.85 billion worth of 100 ships, which corresponds to 71% of the order intake goal of the shipbuilder.

DSME (Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering) and Samsung Heavy Industries have also recently seen their orders soar. In 2020, DSME won orders worth US$4.06 billion, achieving 56 percent of its target. In 2020, Samsung Heavy Industries announced orders for 28 ships (US$4 billion).

Experts from the shipbuilding industry predict that in the first half of 2021, the three shipbuilders will continue to gain orders.

This is because in the midst of a boom in container shipping, global shipowners are expected to place massive orders. According to international media sources, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries have recently signed LOIs for 13,000 TEU container ships with Capital Product Partners, a Greek shipping firm.

Maritime Business World