SK Shipping has approached 20 local and foreign banks to raise funds to the extent of $600m for the construction of four LNG carriers.
This comes with their proposal to transport shale gas for SK E&S imports from the Freeport LNG project in the US. The contract to build four newbuildings of 180,000 Cu M ships will be signed by the end of 2015. Any of the three leading shipbuilders in Korea such as Daewoo, Samsung and Hyundai, could win the contract.
In September 2013, SK E&S entered into an agreement to import 2.2 million tons of shale gas from Freeport Texas. It is expected that the construction of Freeport LNG’s proposed natural gas liquefaction and LNG loading facility on Quintana Island near Freeport will be ready by 2019. Through this contract, Korea will be able to secure its foundation to become an oil producing nation without any resources.
Source: LNG Projects
