Sprint toward the year-end goal! Shipbuilding giant secures orders for two more oil tankers.

On November 7, South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries announced it has secured orders from a North American shipowner for two crude oil tankers, with the total contract value amounting to 290.1 billion Korean won (approximately $200 million or RMB 1.42 billion). Delivery of the vessels is scheduled to take place sequentially before the end of 2028.

Samsung Heavy Industries did not disclose the shipowner's information, but according to foreign media reports, the order came from AET, the oil tanker subsidiary of Malaysia's national shipping company (MISC). AET has placed an order with Samsung Heavy Industries for two 157,000-dwt Suezmax tankers, which will be powered by dual-fuel LNG systems.

For reference, Clarkson data shows that the current price of a newbuild Aframax tanker—ranging from 156,000 to 158,000 deadweight tons—is approximately US$85 million, unchanged from the same period last year. Experts note that if these vessels are powered by LNG, each ship will incur an additional cost of between US$18 million and US$20 million.

According to data from the official website, AET, headquartered in Singapore, currently operates a fleet consisting of 6 VLCCs, 6 conventional fuel-powered Suezmax tankers, 17 conventional fuel-powered Aframax tankers, and 15 DP2 dynamically positioned shuttle tankers.

Sources say that AET's two Suezmax tankers will be built by HSG Chengdong Shipbuilding, with Samsung Heavy Industries overseeing the construction. Back in July of this year, Samsung Heavy Industries signed an agreement with HSG Chengdong Shipbuilding (formerly Chengdong Shipbuilding) and Kunhwa Company, under which HSG Chengdong Shipbuilding will undertake the full-scale construction of the tankers, while Kunhwa will be responsible for manufacturing the large segments of the LNG carriers.

Previously, Samsung Heavy Industries had sub-contracted the construction of two Suezmax crude oil tankers ordered by Greek shipowner Adam Polemis to HSG Seongdong Shipbuilding.

Through its partnership with Samsung Heavy Industries, HSG Seongdong Shipbuilding has regained its foothold in the full-ship construction market. After delivering the last vessel from its existing order book in 2017, the shipyard had been focusing exclusively on ship section fabrication and ship repair services.

As of now, including the latest order, Samsung Heavy Industries has secured new ship orders totaling 32 vessels worth $5.4 billion (approximately RMB 38.46 billion) so far this year, achieving 55% of its annual order target of $9.8 billion. These 32 new ship orders comprise 7 LNG carriers, 9 shuttle tankers, 2 Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs), 11 crude oil tankers, 2 container ships, and a preliminary contract for one FLNG (Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Production, Storage, and Offloading) facility.

Among them, in the commercial shipping sector, Samsung Heavy Industries secured orders worth $4.8 billion, achieving 83% of its annual commercial ship order target of $5.8 billion.

In the offshore engineering equipment sector, following the acquisition of a pre-FEED contract worth $700 million for one FLNG facility, Samsung Heavy Industries plans to secure an additional FLNG order by year-end—through advancing Mozambique’s Coral South FLNG project and the FLNG project with U.S.-based Delfin Corporation—thus achieving its annual target of $4 billion.

A Samsung Heavy Industries official stated: "Recently, the company has received a Letter of Intent (LOA) from Delfin, and as a result, we expect to achieve our $4 billion offshore order target. Moreover, meeting the year-end shipbuilding and offshore order revenue goal will also be no problem."

At the beginning of this year, Samsung Heavy Industries set its annual order target for shipbuilding and offshore business at $9.8 billion, a 33% increase compared to last year's actual order value of $7.3 billion.

A Samsung Heavy Industries official stated: "We expect the demand for replacing aging crude oil tankers to remain strong. The company will collaborate with shipyards both domestically and internationally to establish a flexible production system, enabling us to proactively respond to evolving market conditions."

Samsung Heavy Industries also stated at its third-quarter earnings conference that the new shipbuilding market is showing a positive and improving trend. According to Clarkson's forecast, LNG vessel orders will rise from 50 in 2025 to 100 in 2026 and then to 80 in 2027; meanwhile, the growing demand for environmentally friendly conversions of container ships and oil tankers, as well as the replacement of aging vessels, will serve as the key drivers ensuring future order volumes.

Samsung Heavy Industries stated that the company currently holds orders worth over $30 billion, ensuring more than three years of robust work volume. As a result, the company plans to continue building on its stable order backlog while consistently prioritizing a selective order-planning strategy focused on profitability. Beyond LNG carriers, Samsung Heavy Industries is also expanding its portfolio of high-value-added vessel types, including shuttle tankers and VLEC vessels. While maintaining its strategic focus on high-margin ship segments, the company will closely monitor market conditions for container ships and oil tankers, responding flexibly to shifts in the global market landscape. Additionally, Samsung Heavy Industries is actively pursuing FLNG project orders from countries such as Mozambique, the United States, and Canada.