Hyundai Glovis said on Thursday it has signed a charter contract with a global trading company.
According to Hyundai Glovis, this contract is expected to secure approximately 580 billion won ($396 million) in revenue over a maximum period of 15 years.
Hyundai Glovis said it will order the 174,000-cbm LNG carrier, but it did not reveal the name of the shipyard or the trading company.
Local reports suggest that the charterer is Japan’s Itochu. LNG Prime could not verify this by the time this article was published.
The newbuild LNG carrier is scheduled to transport LNG from the US Gulf Coast to major global markets starting in 2029.
Hyundai Glovis is seeking to diversify beyond its core car carrier transport business into LNG, LPG, and ammonia shipping.
Since 2024, it has been operating one LPG and one LNG carrier, and will introduce four additional LNG vessels by 2027 to service Middle Eastern clients, the firm said.
A JV between Japan’s K Line and Hyundai Glovis signed chartered deals last year for four vessels with state-owned QatarEnergy as part of the latter’s massive shipbuilding program.
These vessels are being built at South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean.
Back in April 2022, Hyundai Glovis and Australian LNG player Woodside signed a charter deal for one newbuild LNG carrier for a 10-year period.
The charter deal also includes an option for an additional five years.
Prior to the charter announcement, Hyundai Glovis ordered the vessel from South Korea’s HD Hyundai Samho for about $218 million.
With this deal, the South Korean operator of a large PCTC fleet and the shipping unit of Hyundai Motor Group entered the LNG transportation business.
Last year, Hyundai Samho delivered the LNG carrier Woodside Scarlet Ibis to Hyundai Glovis and Woodside.
