Posted on August 14, 2023
According to the DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insight (AFI) on Aug. 10, the world’s cumulative orders for methanol-fueled ships (including retrofits) stood at 204 vessels as of the end of July. Of these, Korean shipbuilders accounted for 35.8 percent, or 73 vessels.
Twenty-seven vessels are currently in operation, and the remaining 177 are expected to be delivered to their clients one by one until 2028. By ship type, 143 vessels, or 70.1 percent of the total, were identified as container ships. If limited to container ships only, Korea’s order share will jump to 42.7 percent.
On the other hand, China’s share of total global ship orders in the first half of this year was 58.5 percent, more than double that of South Korea (29.0 percent).
Korean shipbuilders have enjoyed a first-mover advantage in the methanol-fueled vessel market following an increase in orders for LNG-fueled ships to them for several years, but Chinese shipbuilders have been accelerating their pursuit of Korean shipbuilders recently.
