South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries Co. finally succeeded in winning this year's first order. It is the first new ship order in 11 months after the end of October last year.
The company announced on September 30 that it has received a 420 billion won (US$380.43 million) order from Monaco’s GasLog Ltd. to construct two 180,000-cubic meter class liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. The first order became binding on the same day and the second will be placed within the year.
A liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier built by Samsung Heavy Industries for GasLog
The LNG carriers to be built by Samsung Heavy Industries will be the world’s first vessels using the Mark V system that dramatically reduces the natural evaporation rates inside of the cargo hold.
About 0.09 percent to 0.1 percent of LNG inside of the cargo hold in LNG carriers is being naturally vaporized to natural gas every day. The new cargo hold will reduce the figure to 0.075 percent, down up to 25 percent of naturally vaporized gases.
A LNG carrier generally uses naturally vaporized natural gases to fuel the engine. It also burns the remaining gases through a separate combustion system after using them as fuel or returns them to a cargo hold after liquefying them with a reliquefaction system.
On the other hand, as the new cargo hold reduces the natural evaporation rates, it also lowers surplus gas emissions and improves transportation efficiency accordingly. Its cost-cutting effect is equivalent to US$1 million (1.1 billion won) annually and reaches US$20 million (22.08 billion won) when it is operated for 20 years.
Meanwhile, Samsung Heavy Industries is also likely to win more orders this year. The company was selected as preferred bidder in the first quarter for an order for a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility project in Mozambique from Italian multinational oil and gas company Eni S.p.A. and it expects to sign an official contract by the end of the year. The company teamed up with France-based Technip S.A. and Japan's JGC Corp for the deal that could bring the Korean builder share of nearly 3 trillion won (US$2.72 billion).
As Samsung Heavy Industries is also exclusively participating in a LNG tanker bid from India’s GAIL, the company expects to win four to six LNG tanker orders. In addition, it is taking part in a final tender for large-scale submarine production facilities ordered by U.K.-based BP.
Source: BusinessKorea