South Korean shipbuilders defended top rank in the global order book for three years in a row in 2020 and anticipate ever busier year.

The global order book for new ships came to 17.92 million compensate gross tonnage (CGT) in 2020, of which China dominated 7.98 million CGT and South Korea 6.73 million CGT, according to U.K. shipping industry data provider Clarksons Research.

But the Clarksons data did not reflect 17 LNG carriers that Korea’s two leading shipbuilders Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. won late last month. When including additional 1.45 million CGT, Korea would elbow out China and command the top in global orders for the third straight year in 2020.

Korean shipbuilders had a slow start in 2020, adding just 1.18 million CGT to their order book in the first half of the year compared with China’s 3.51 million CGT. But they scooped up a string of orders in the final quarter.

This year also looks good for Korean shipyards.

Korea’s 2021 order book, excluding overseas plants, is estimated at 9.8 million CGT worth $21.5 billion, according to a study by the Overseas Economic Research Institute of the Export-Import Bank of Korea.

Demand to replace old gas-guzzling vessels is likely to grow amid the heightened environmental standards, raising the appeal for Korea’s LNG dual-fuel engine vessels.

Qatar’s 23.6-trillion-won ($19.2 billion) deal with Korea’s three major shipbuilders would also go into full effect this year. In June 2020, Qatar Petroleum, the state-run petroleum company of the Middle Eastern country, signed a capacity reservation pact with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries, committing them to reserve their LNG construction capacity for future orders from Qatar.

By Pulse

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