Russian energy giant Novatek has "requested" Putin to consider giving 10 of a series of 15 ice-breaking LNG ships to overseas shipbuilders for construction because of concerns about their own building capacity. The orders, worth up to $3bn, and have attracted competition from four Chinese and south Korean shipping companies.

 

Novatek has not yet selected which overseas shipping company to place these LNG ship orders, but China's Hudong Zhonghua, as well as South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding, Hyundai Heavy Industry Group and Samsung Heavy Industry have already participated in the bidding. Considering the cost of the ice-breaking LNG ship is about $ 300 million each, the total value of these 10 ships will reach $ 3 billion.

 

Compared with South Korea, although Hudong Zhonghua lags behind South Korea in terms of technology, the specialist in the South Korean industry believe that Hudong Zhonghua may start low-cost competition based on cost. China and Russia are developing closer cooperation around the arctic, and China is the biggest importer of Russian LNG, all of which could help Hudong Zhonghua to win Novatek's orders.

 

Source:Sarah Yu,XINDE MARINE NEWS

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