Two types, four vessels—worth 2.3 billion! Shipbuilding giant secures oil tanker order from “long-time customer.”

On January 20, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the shipbuilding business holding company of South Korea’s HD Hyundai Group, announced that it had signed contracts with an Oceania-based shipowner for the construction of two Suezmax crude oil tankers with a deadweight of 157,000 tons each and two LR2 product oil tankers with a deadweight of 115,000 tons each.

These four new vessels will be built at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan and are scheduled to be delivered to the shipowner by the end of June 2029. The total contract value is 481.6 billion Korean won (approximately USD 328 million or RMB 2.3 billion).

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering did not disclose the shipowner’s information. However, according to foreign media reports, this order comes from Stealth Maritime, a subsidiary of Greek shipowner Harry Vafias’ oil tanker company. These vessels are backup ships for the four actual vessels that Stealth Maritime ordered from HD Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering last January.

Including the latest order, Stealth Maritime currently has 12 oil tankers under construction at HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, and the two companies enjoy a strong partnership. Adding to this, with the one 11,000-cubic-meter liquefied gas carrier ordered from Sasaki Shipbuilding in Japan, Vafias now has a total of 13 new vessels under construction, with a combined value of approximately USD 900 million (about RMB 6.265 billion).

Including these four oil tanker orders, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering has secured a total of nine orders this year, worth US$1.49 billion (approximately RMB 10.4 billion), achieving about 6.4% of its full-year order target of US$23.31 billion. These orders include four LNG carriers, one VLGC, two crude oil tankers, and two chemical tankers.

Earlier, on January 6, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering announced that it had signed construction contracts with shipowners in the Americas for four LNG carriers with a capacity of 200,000 cubic meters. The total contract value amounts to 149.93 billion Korean won (approximately US$1.036 billion or RMB 7.237 billion), equivalent to a unit price of US$259 million per vessel. Although HD Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering did not disclose the identity of the shipowner, it is understood that the order comes from Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). After delivery, the new vessels will be leased long-term to Cheniere, the U.S.-based LNG giant.

Subsequently, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Engineering announced on January 16 that it had signed a construction contract with a European shipowner for one VLGC, with the total contract value amounting to 175.8 billion Korean won (approximately US$120 million or RMB 833 million). This VLGC will be built at HD Hyundai Samho in Yeongam County, South Jeolla Province, and is scheduled for delivery to the shipowner by the end of June 2028.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering did not disclose the shipowner’s information, but according to foreign media reports, this VLGC was ordered by IGAZ, Turkey’s seventh-largest industrial enterprise and also the country’s largest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distributor.

In 2025, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering’s cumulative order intake reached 133 vessels, totaling US$18.16 billion (approximately RMB 127.6 billion), exceeding its annual order target of US$18.05 billion and marking the fifth consecutive year of meeting its order targets.

According to an announcement released by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering on January 5, the company has set its annual order intake target for its shipbuilding and offshore industries at US$23.31 billion (approximately RMB 163 billion) for 2026—a 29.1% increase over the 2025 target of US$18.05 billion. The order intake targets for its shipbuilding subsidiaries are as follows: HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (including the former HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard) at US$17.745 billion, HD Hyundai Samho at US$4.9 billion, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Philippines Shipyard at US$660 million.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering stated that, amid unfavorable factors such as the deteriorating global shipping market and the delayed implementation of new environmental regulations by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which are expected to slow down new ship orders in 2026, companies that have already secured stable order volumes will continue to adopt a selective order-acceptance strategy focused on profitability. Furthermore, these companies plan to accelerate their order intake, centering on the global eco-friendly vessel market, and have set an order target that is nearly 30% higher than last year’s figure.