Daewoo to build LNG carrier for Japanese shipping firm

By Lee Hyo-sik

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) will build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier for Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL), Japan’s leading shipping firm.

DSME, one of Korea’s top three shipbuilders, said it will complete the next-generation, environmentally friendly LNG carrier at its shipyard in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, by 2018. It did not disclose how much it would receive for the job.

The 46.4-meter-wide, 297.2-meter-long vessel will be delivered to MOL, which will then lease it to German energy firm E.ON.

DSME plans to install a partial re-liquefaction system ― state-of-the-art technology to help minimize LNG loss during transport ― into the carrier.

The latest order has pushed up the number of LNG carrier contracts DSME has secured this year to six. Including orders for two crude oil carriers, the company has so far earned a total of $1.4 billion.

DSME said it would probably win another order from MOL for an additional LNG carrier.

“The latest contract shows that our clients across the globe see us as a highly competitive and skilled shipbuilder,” a DSME spokesman said. “In a strong partnership with MOL, we have successfully established a business tie with E.ON. The latest order will help us win more contracts from energy companies in Europe.”

The shipbuilder will continue to hone its technological prowess and make next-generation, fuel-efficient vessels, the spokesman said. “We will do everything we can to win orders for natural gas carriers in 2015 and beyond.”

In January 2013, DSME won the first order from MOL to build a LNG-floating storage regasification unit (FSRU), which stores and delivers natural gas to land through a pipeline.

In 2014, MOL asked the shipbuilder to construct three icebreaking LNG carriers.