South Korean shipbuilders are sailing smoothly towards this year’s order target.

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co (KOSE), the shipbuilding holding entity under Korea’s largest shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, disclosed Thursday its unlisted subsidiary Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries clinched a 589.5 billion won ($487 million) contract to build four container ships for a Liberia-based shipping company.

Ships are to be delivered by the end of 2024.

KOSE has bagged orders for building a total of 68 vessels, worth $7 billion in total, so far this year to achieve 40 percent of this year’s order target of $17.44 billion.

KOSE shares are closed Thursday 0.34 percent lower at 88,900 won in Seoul.

Also on Thursday, HJ Shipbuilding & Construction Co., renamed from Hanjin Heavy Industries, disclosed bagging a shipbuilding order worth 176.2 billion won ($145 million). The company will construct two 5,500-TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) container ships for a European shipping company by February 2024.

It is the shipbuilder’s first order for this year, and repeated order from the same client that commissioned a 5,500-TEU container carrier in October 2021.

The latest contract includes an option for the client ordering up to eight container carriers of the same type.

The vessels are to be constructed at its shipyard in Busan, southern port city of Korea, for delivery from the first half of 2024.

Its shares rose 1.02 percent to close at 7,950 won on Thursday.

By Cho Jeehyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]