Samsung's 15 Ship Boost for QatarEnergy

QatarEnergy is advancing its fleet expansion efforts with a freshly inked agreement to acquire 15 LNG carriers from Samsung Heavy Industries, a leading South Korean shipyard known for having the largest backlog of gas ship orders globally.

Valued at $3.44 billion, the agreement stipulates that all vessels will be delivered by October 2028.

This follows an October announcement where HD Hyundai Heavy Industries disclosed a landmark $3.9 billion contract to construct 17 LNG carriers for QatarEnergy. Furthermore, Hanwha Ocean, another prominent player among South Korea's top shipyards, is anticipated to finalize its contract with QatarEnergy in the near future.

The past three years have seen a surge in LNG ship contracting at shipyards in Korea and China, a trend that is making a significant impact on this year's delivery schedules.

According to data from Clarksons Research, the industry is set to welcome 89 LNG ships this year, boasting a total capacity of 14.9 cubic meters. This figure markedly surpasses the ten-year average, depicting a 48% increase over the previous record of 10.1 million cubic meters set three years back.

Clarksons highlighted in its latest weekly briefing, "With c.90% of vessels on order already committed to projects, although project slippage is always a risk, expectations remain for record start-ups and rapid trade growth across 2025-27 to absorb strong deliveries as the sector enters a major phase of expansion.”