South Korea’s HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), the intermediate holding company for HD Hyundai’s shipbuilding business, has inked a ‘major’ contract with compatriot maritime transport company HMM for eight 13,400 TEU dual-fuel boxships.
Courtesy of HD Hyundai
As disclosed, the order for the ultra-large container vessels, which was revealed on November 23, was signed under an agreement valued at a whopping $1.46 billion. Officials from HD Hyundai have called this deal its “largest container ship order volume in 18 years since the shipbuilding supercycle in 2007.”
Once completed, the vessels are to be delivered fitted with dual-fuel engines powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and an enlarged fuel tank (reportedly expanded by approximately 50%). This is expected to improve the ships’ operational efficiency.