DSME wins another shipbuilding deal with Greece-based company

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering CEO Chung Sung-lip shakes hands with John Angelicoussis, owner of Greece's biggest shipping company, Angelicoussis Shipping Group, during the signing ceremony for four 318,000-cubic-meter crude oil carriers in Greece on Wednesday. / Courtesy of DSME

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) has clinched another contract with Greece-based Maran Tankers Management to build four 318,000-cubic-meter very large crude oil carriers (VLCCs), DSME said Thursday.

Maran Tankers Management is an affiliate of Greece's largest ship-owning company, Angelicoussis Shipping Group. The Greece-based group is the Korean shipbuilder’s largest partner company and has ordered 96 ships with DSME since its first order in 1994.

Seventeen ships ordered by Angelicoussis group are being built at DSME's shipyards in Okpo and Romania.

“Greece’s largest ship-owning company, Angelicoussis Shipping Group, is showing its deep trust in DSME’s revival,” DSME CEO Chung Sung-lip said during the contract-signing ceremony.

“DSME management is getting back on track after successfully concluding its recapitalization process. The company’s financial stability is also being improved, expecting to win additional contracts by the end of this year.”

The 336-meter-long, 60-meter-wide VLCCs are expected to include DSME's latest eco-friendly technologies that satisfy the International Maritime Organization's environmental standards.

Maran Tankers Management also ordered three VLCCs in April, a contract worth 280 billion won ($250 million).

Despite DSME's financial crisis, Angelicoussis Shipping Group ordered two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and two VLCCs last June. It also placed an order with DSME for a 173,400-cubic-meter LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in December.

The shipyard won 12 shipbuilding contracts worth $1.55 billion last year.