The world’s largest shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries said Thursday it has obtained two additional orders to build liquefied natural gas carriers, bringing its total number of orders to five so far this year.

HHI revealed that a deal had been made with an unnamed European shipping company for two LNG vessels valued at $390 million in total. The vessels will have 180,000 cubic meters in capacity and will be delivered by HHI’s Ulsan headquarters in 2022.

The vessels will be equipped with Mark III Flex Plus technology that has a vaporization rate of 0.07 percent, reducing the daily evaporation of fuels. They will also have high efficiency single mixed refrigerant technology that allows the reliquefaction of gas evaporated from the vessels. These technologies could help save up to $1 million per year in fuel costs.

Earlier this week, HHI affiliates Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries also received orders from other European companies for four petrochemical product carriers and two crude oil carriers, respectively.

HHI said demand for the building of LNG-related vessels is likely to grow, considering increasing global demand for LNG development projects and energy exports.

By Cho Hyee-su (chohyeesu@heraldcorp.com)