Hyundai Merchant Marine receives new 300,000-ton VLCC

[Photo by Hyundai Merchant Marine]

South Korea’s largest shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine got its latest ultra-large oil tanker delivered that will be used for shipping crude oil for Korean refiner GS Caltex over the next five years.

The maiden voyage of “Universal Victor,” the 300,000-ton very large crude carrier (VLCC) built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), took place Monday at DSME dockyards in Okpo, South Korea.

Universal Victor is one of the five oil tankers that Hyundai Merchant Marine assigned to DSME in an order made in September 2017. The deal was arranged by the government, which offered substantial financial backing as part of efforts to revitalize the local shipping industry that was reeling from the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping, which had been the world’s seventh-largest container shipper.

The new vessel is fitted with exhaust gas scrubbers, which clean the exhaust smoke from engines to remove sulphur and other particles, to comply with the International Maritime Organization’s tightened emission controls to be enforced from 2020. It is also mounted with an optimized engine system to reduce fuel costs.

Bae Jae-hoon, chief executive of HMM

“This marks the first real outcome of the government’s support in the shipping industry,” said Bae Jae-hoon, chief executive of Hyundai Merchant Marine.

Bae added that the company will carry out the delivery of 20 more supertankers from next April as scheduled.

As for the other four VLCCs, the No. 1 “Universal Leader” and No. 3 “Universal Partner” are currently operating on the spot market, while the No. 2 “Universal Winner” is being run by a global oil major. The No. 4 “Universal Creator,” which was completed in July, would join Universal Victor in delivering crude oil for GS Caltex.

In March 2018, Hyundai Merchant Marine struck a long-term delivery deal with GS Caltex worth 190 billion won ($156.9 million) for the next five years.

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