South Korean shipbuilding giant Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), a shipbuilding holding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, has announced that two of its subsidiaries have entered into contract terminations for ten very large crude carriers (VLCCs).
Hyundai Heavy Industries had been contracted to build seven VLCCs from the batch, while Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries was supposed to construct 3 VLCCs from the series.
The total value of the contract is KRW 986 billion ($877 million), Hyundai said in a regulatory filing.
KSOE said that the contracts were terminated after an unnamed Oceania-based shipowner failed to meet the payment deadline.
For 2020, KSOE’s units won orders for 116 ships worth around $10 billion, inching close to its $11 billion target despite a major slowdown in the sector due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.
For 2021, the shipbuilder increased its target to a combined $14.9 billion, Yonhap reports, amid a positive outlook on the shipbuilding demand.