SHI lands 'largest', US$3.4Bn, 15-LNG-carrier deal

SHI reported its KRW4.57Tn (US$3.44Bn) contract to build 15 liquefied natural gas carriers and press reports have linked the deal, officially with an unnamed "Middle East Asia region buyer", as being tied to the second phase of Qatar’s giant LNG project. 

According to the Korean press, the deal is the largest single contract received by Samsung Heavy Industries, to date.

Qatar Energy has not commented on the deal despite announcing a 20-year, 7.5M tonne per year (mta) sale and purchase agreement with India’s Petronet LNG. 

Rumours about Qatar Energy’s newbuilding slot reservations have been circulating, with as many as 40 reservations thought to be in place across multiple shipyards. In late January, marine engine group WinGD said QatarEnergy will soon make decisions on the specifications for the remaining vessels to be ordered.

Qatar Energy signalled the start of its second round of newbuilding orders by signing a deal with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries in September 2023 for 17 LNG carriers, worth US$3.9Bn. Together with the more than 60 ships contracted in phase one, the agreement brought the estimated total number of confirmed LNG vessels set for delivery to QatarEnergy and its affiliates to around 80 or more.

QatarEnergy’s LNG shipbuilding programme will support its expanding LNG production capacity from the North Field LNG expansion in the Middle East and Golden Pass LNG export projects in the US as well as its long-term fleet replacement requirements.

Some 49 mta of new capacity is considered likely to come online during 2027 and 2028, increasing Qatar’s liquefaction volume from 77 mta to 126 mta, and requiring more than 90 LNG carriers holding an average of 170,000-m³ of cargo capacity to transport. QatarEnergy also plans to offtake 70% of the capacity from the US’ Golden Pass LNG project, with the remaining 30% to be marketed by ExxonMobil. In total, Qatar reserved 151 newbuilding slots across Asian shipyards to meet its upcoming cargo transport needs.