121 orders in total! Daewoo Shipbuilding won the most expensive LNG ship order from "old friends" again

After 30 years of cooperation, 121 orders have been placed, and now two more 174000 cubic meters of LNG ships have been ordered at the highest price in the current market, with the best service and the highest quality to return to the shipowner to achieve a win-win situation. Daewoo Shipbuilding in South Korea and Angelicousis, the largest shipowner in Greece, have set an example of shipyard and shipowner cooperation.

On March 14, Daewoo Shipbuilding announced that it had signed a construction contract with Maran Gas Maritime, a member of the Greek Angelicousis Group, for two 174000m3 LNG ships, with a contract value of 679.4 billion won (about 5124.8 million dollars) and a single ship cost of about 256.24 million dollars, breaking the record of the highest transaction price (about 255 million dollars) of 174000m3 LNG ships undertaken by South Korea Shipbuilding Marine at the end of last month.

It is reported that these two LNG ships will be delivered to the shipowner in the first half of 2027. Up to now, Daewoo Shipbuilding has undertaken a total of 4 new ship orders this year, with a total contract value of about US $800 million, of which 3 are LNG ships, achieving 11.5% of the annual order receiving target of US $6.98 billion.

According to the International Shipbuilding Network, Angelicousis Group is the largest customer of Daewoo Shipbuilding. Since the first time of ordering new ships in Daewoo Shipbuilding in 1994, 121 new ships have been ordered in Daewoo Shipbuilding, including this order, which also created the world's highest number of new ship orders signed between a single shipowner and a single shipyard.

John Angelicossis joined his family's shipping company in 1973, and after becoming the CEO of the group, he built the company into one of the largest private shipowners in the world. In 2003, Angelicousis Group became the first company in Greece to purchase and operate the tonnage of LNG ships, opening up a new field for the Greek maritime industry.

John Angelicossis is affectionately called "Uncle Long Legs" by Daewoo Shipbuilding employees. After the outbreak of the international financial crisis in 2008, the global shipbuilding order market also fell into a long-term downturn, and whenever Daewoo Shipbuilding encountered difficulties in its business environment, Angelicousis Group would play the role of "white knight" and extend a helping hand to it to order new ships. According to statistics, since 2015, since Daewoo Shipbuilding suffered the most serious "order shortage" in its history and fell into a crisis in its operation, Angelicousis Group has ordered 41 new ships in Daewoo Shipbuilding; Especially since November 2021, Angelicousis Group has ordered 11 LNG ships in Daewoo Shipbuilding, which is considered as the "timely rain" of Daewoo Shipbuilding.

The trust relationship between Daewoo Shipbuilding and Angelicousis Group has also been well continued after the death of John Angelicousis, the second chief executive of the group. After his daughter Maria Angelicossis took over as CEO of the Group, she immediately ordered two 174000m3 LNG ships in Daewoo Shipbuilding in November 2021. This is also the first new shipbuilding project since Maria Angelicousis became the CEO of the Group.

In January 2022, Angelicousis Group ordered two additional 174000m3 LNG ships at Daewoo Shipbuilding. On March 31, 2022, Daewoo Shipbuilding delivered 174000 cubic meters of LNG ship "John. Angelicousis" to Angelicousis Group. This ship is also the 110th new ship built by Daewoo Shipbuilding for Angelicousis Group. On June 9, the two sides signed a construction contract for two 174000m3 LNG ships at Posidonia 2022, Greece, and the cost of the two 174000m3 LNG ships per ship reached $232.9 million, which was also the highest price in the market at that time.

It is worth mentioning that from June to July last year, Daewoo Shipbuilding was in a very difficult situation because of the 51-day strike of the subcontracting trade union, which resulted in a large area of delay in production. By the end of August, the number of new ships delayed in delivery reached 30. In this situation, Daewoo shipbuilding employees not only gave up their summer vacation, but also worked overtime to try their best to recover the progress of the project, making great contributions to the smooth progress of the ship project under construction of Angelicousis Group. In order to express gratitude for the efforts of Daewoo Shipbuilding employees, Angelicousis Group decided to donate 2 million US dollars to Daewoo Shipbuilding in the name of John Angelicousis last October. In November last year, Angelicousis Group ordered another 174000 cubic meters of LNG ship in Daewoo Shipbuilding. The two sides also maintain a close cooperative relationship.