South Korea's Newbuilding Orders Surpass $138 Billion, LNG Vessels Account for 52% of the Total
Based on VesselsValue's data analysis, Veson Nautical has conducted an exhaustive analysis of South Korean newbuilding orders, categorizing them according to the number of vessels and their market value, and highlighting the top five shipowners in the order book, the share of the dual-fuel-powered fleet, as well as the ranking of the top ten shipowners in South Korea.
LNG carriers lead the South Korean newbuilding orderbook, accounting for about 52% of the total orderbook with $71.3 billion. It also leads in the number of orders, totaling 276 ships. It was closely followed by container ships, which came in second with $35.6 billion, or 26 percent, and an order book of 184 ships. lpg carriers came in third with $14.9 billion and an order book of 129 ships. Tankers came in fourth with $14.7 billion, with more planned builds than LPG and container ships at 185 ships. In fifth place are car carriers with a market value of $929 million and a total of eight ships.
With an order book totaling $8.09 billion, Duffy Line dominates the market for ultra-large containerships, neo-panamax and post-panamax containerships, topping the list with an order book totaling 38 vessels.
It was followed by Nippon Yusen, whose order book totaled $7.21 billion, covering 26 174,000-cubic-meter LNG carriers and three 88,000-cubic-meter Very Large Liquid Ammonia Carriers (VLACs). Nippon Yusen has not only placed orders in South Korea, but also ordered a total of 56 vessels in Chinese, Japanese and German shipyards, covering a wide range of vessel types such as LNG, LPG, bulk carriers and tankers.
In third place was Qatargas Transport with an order value of $6.9 billion for 29 vessels, mainly from large and Qmax LNG carriers.
Qatar Energy Group is in fourth place with an order value of $6.52 billion, including 25 large LNG carriers of 174,000 to 175,000 cubic meters.
Evergreen Marine ranked fifth with an order book of $6.38 billion, with 28 vessels ordered, all of which are neo-Panamax containerships of 15,372 to 15,500 TEU, as well as ultra-large containerships of 24,000 TEU, while MOL ranked sixth with an order book of $5.62 billion, with a total of 26 vessels ordered.
About 37% of Korean newbuilding orders were equipped with dual-fuel power, totaling a market value of $71.4 billion. In addition to LNG carriers that come standard with dual-fuel power, the same is true for all car carriers and ro-ro carriers.
Among the orders for dual-fuel vessels, container ships are the second largest in number, with 148 vessels contracted, accounting for about 80% of the total order book. Among the orders for LPG vessels, about 50% or 64 vessels will be dual-fuel powered, with a market value of up to $7.5 billion.
Among Korean head owners, HMM ranks first in terms of the combined existing fleet and orders, reaching $11.9 billion with a total of 112 vessels covering a wide range of ship types such as dry bulk carriers, tankers, container ships, LNG carriers and car carriers. This is a relatively modern fleet, with an average age of just eight years.
H-Line Shipping is in second place, with a fleet value of $6.09 billion and 62 vessels. PanOcean is in third place with a fleet value of $5.73 billion and a fleet size of 126 vessels. Sinokor, which ranks fourth in terms of value, also has a fleet value of $5.73 billion, but has the largest number of vessels, with 134. The average age of the fleet is slightly older at 11 years. HMM tops the list with a fleet value twice that of Sinokor, with more than half of its fleet focusing on containerized transportation, accounting for slightly more than 54 percent of the fleet, as well as tankers, dry bulk carriers and LNG carriers.
South Korea's shipbuilding industry is dominated by LNG carriers, tankers and container ships. The trend towards dual-fuel vessels is far-reaching, especially in the container ship and LPG ship markets. Shipowners such as Qatar Energy, Duffy and Nippon Yusen are leading the growth in demand for large LNG carriers and container ships.