Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering CEO Ka Sam-hyun, right, shakes hands with Maersk Chief Technical Officer Palle Laursen at the Danish company's headquarters in Copenhagen, Tuesday (local time), after signing a contract for six methanol-powered container ships. Courtesy of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group

By Park Jae-hyuk

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) signed a 1.6 trillion won ($1.1 billion) contract with Maersk of Denmark for six 17,000-TEU methanol-powered container ships and another deal worth 476 billion won with U.S.-based Excelerate Energy for a 170,000-cubic-meter liquefied natural gas floating storage and regasification unit (LNG-FSRU), the shipbuilder said Wednesday.

The Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Group subsidiary said the container ships will be built at the conglomerate's shipyard in Ulsan and delivered to Maersk individually by 2025. The LNG-FSRU will be built at the same shipyard and delivered to Excelerate Energy by 2026.

A 170,000-cubic-meter liquefied natural gas floating storage and regasification unit (LNG-FSRU) built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) / Courtesy of HHI Group

In August last year, KSOE and Maersk signed a contract for eight 16,000-TEU methanol-fueled container ships. They have continued their cooperation for cleaner maritime vessels with the aim of signing contracts for a total of 19 methanol-powered container ships.

"It is meaningful as we have proven our competitiveness by winning a series of orders for methanol-powered container ships," a KSOE official said. "Since we have received continuous inquiries about LNG-FSRU from our clients worried about the recent LNG supply chain problems in Europe, we expect additional orders in the near future."