DSME bags deal for boxship quartet

South Korean shipbuilding major Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) has won an order for the construction of four containerships.

The contract is worth KRW 486.3 billion ($441 million). DSME has set the target for this year of $7.7 billion, Yonhap reports.

The order was placed by an unnamed European owner, DSME said in a regulatory filing.

The ships are scheduled for delivery by September 2023.

The order is being reported on the back of another major deal in the sector in which DSME secured a $ 1 billion order for 6 LNG-powered 23,500+ TEU ultra large boxships.

Separately, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) has extended the deadline for the acquisition of shares in compatriot DSME amid regulatory delays.

The mega-merger deadline has been extended from September 2020 to June 2021 after KSOE signed a contract amendment with DSME on January 22, 2021.

The proposed tie-up will see HHI take over Geoje-based DSME from Korean state lender KDB, the majority shareholder owning a 55.7 percent stake in the company.