Hanwha Ocean Co., one of the biggest shipbuilders in South Korea, is poised to win an order for a fleet of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers amid its engagement in Qatar‘s national project to magnify its LNG production.

In its statement on Monday, the Korean shipbuilder said it has recently inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a Middle Eastern company to supply 12 LNG tankers.

Although further information on the partner is yet to be disclosed, industry observers believe the buyer could be QatarEnergy, Qatar’s state-owned petroleum company, given the region where the deal was struck.

Qatar announced its expansion plan for its vast LNG production facilities after drilling and appraisal work at its gas fields earlier and now expects to produce 126 million tonnes a year (mtpa) by 2027.

In a separate development, Hanwha Ocean also accused HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. (HHI), another biggest shipbuilder in Koreas, of executive-level involvement in a violation of the Military Secret Protection Act in November 2023 by acquiring documents related to a national shipbuilding project written by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. (DSME), now Hanwha Ocean, between October 2012 and November 2015.

Hanwha Ocean announced on Monday that it filed a complaint with the National Police Agency to urge an investigation into the purported involvement of executives from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in the data leakage.

“It is hard to believe the years of stealing confidential data from a rival was done without any involvement or instruction by the company’s executives,” the company said.

The complaint came after the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) decided to impose a lenient penalty on HD Hyundai Heavy Industries for the violation and allowed the company to bid on future state contracts.

By Choi Hyun-jae and Han Yubin

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