Iran taps Daewoo for VLCC contracts

South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. received a $384 million order from the Iranian government to build three crude carriers.

May 24, 2005

Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, May 24 -- South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) received a $384 million order from the Iranian government to build three crude carriers.

Daewoo will construct three 318,000-ton very large crude carriers (VLCC), each worth $128 million, for Iran's state-owned National Iranian Tanker Co. (NITC), with delivery scheduled for October 2009.

In early May, NITC said it would award contracts amounting to $1 billion to South Korea-based shipbuilders Daewoo and Hyundai, and Samho Heavy Industries Co.

In February, NITC issued a tender to shipyards for the construction of five 1-million-bbl Suezmax tankers and five 2-million-bbl VLCCs.

Altogether, NITC has announced plans to order 35 vessels to be built by 2010, including 20 chemical tankers and 10 LNG carriers.