Korea hits Qatar jackpot

The big three Korean shipbuilders have secured a $3.5 billion order to build 8 LNG carriers which form part of the second phase (Qatar Liquefied Gas II) of a huge gas development project jointly operated by Exxon Mobil and Qatar Petroleum. The order is the largest in the history of Korean tanker construction and, at 216,200 cubic metres each, these LNG carriers are the largest ever ordered with each vessel costing about $229 million.

Of the 8 gas carriers placed on order, a consortium of Hyundai and Samsung won a contract to build four carriers, while Daewoo won the order to build the other four carriers. The Korean yards also have secured an option to build a further eight gas carriers three to six months later. The latest newbuildings will measure 315 metres long, 50 metres wide, 27 metres depth and have a speed of 19.5kt. They will be considerably larger than BP?s series of four 155,000 cubic metre vessels ordered from Hyundai last month, which, at the time, were the largest LNGs ever ordered

In the first phase of the project, awarded in late July, Daewoo won an order to build seven gas tankers while and Samsung received an order for one. Total ship orders for both phases are estimated at $5.3 billion and Qatar plans to order an additional 12 LNG carriers by the end of the year.

Hyundai and Samsung formed a consortium for the project in order to prevent price-cutting competition and to deliver the ships ahead of the scheduled date. They will each deliver two LNG carriers with the contract stipulating delivery in October 2007 and January 2008 when US tanker company Overseas Shipholding Group will operate them. This tanker company and Pronav Ship Management of Germany will each own two of the tankers which will be leased to Qatar Liquefied Gas II.

Of the 51 LNG carriers ordered this year, Korean shipbuilders secured orders for 45 vessels while Japan won orders to build four.