UK-headquartered Zodiac Maritime has achieved another shipbuilding first, becoming the first client of Samsung Heavy Industries’ newly controlled Vietnam shipyard, committing to three firm conventionally fuelled suezmax tankers with options, priced at $80m per unit and delivering in 2028.
Each vessel, with a capacity of approximately 157,000 dwt, will be constructed by Samsung Heavy at its PVSM shipyard in the south of Vietnam, a yard it is collaborating with PetroVietnam to develop.
Previous shipbuilder firsts for Zodiac Maritime include Yangzijiang’s first LR2s, and the first deals of their types for car carriers with Raffles and Xiamen.
Another South Korean shipbuilder, HD Hyundai, has had a shipyard in Vietnam for many years. South Korea’s biggest shipyards have been on an international expansion phase over the past couple of years as orderbooks on home soil extend to near the end of the decade.
