On Monday, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), the HHI Group's shipbuilding holding company, announced that it had obtained orders to construct three ships for shipping companies in Africa and Europe.

HHI, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, and Hyundai Samho are three of the HHI Group's shipbuilding companies. The South Korean shipbuilder will construct two 300,000-ton very large crude carriers (VLCC) and one 50,000-ton PC vessel under the 240 billion won contract.

The three ships are scheduled to be constructed at the HHI and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard shipyards in Ulsan and delivered in January 2022 to African and European shipping companies. Earlier in September, KSOE secured a deal to develop four VLCCs.

After the third quarter, the South Korean shipbuilding industry, which endured difficulties as shipbuilding orders plummeted globally in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, showed signs of recovery.

In the first half of the year, Chinese shipbuilders received new orders to construct bulk carriers from Chinese customers, but in the third quarter, South Korean shipbuilders reclaimed the world's No . 1 status, overtaking Chinese shipbuilders with almost twice their 3Q results.

Normally, as the year-end approaches, shipbuilding orders are concentrated. This is why the South Korean shipbuilding industry expects KSOE to receive large-scale orders from Russia and Mozambique for their LNG project there, in addition to the deals that the shipbuilder obtained earlier this month from shipping companies in Singapore and Liberia to construct two LPG tankers and two PC ships.

Maritime Business World