As land-based LNG terminals face shortages, floating platforms are emerging as a practical answer to global gas demand.
With Delfin and other offshore projects in sight, Samsung Heavy is leveraging its FLNG and FSRU track record.
Choi Sung-an, CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries.
[Insight Korea = Kim Ho-jin]
Samsung Heavy Industries Vice Chairman and CEO Choi Sung-an is strengthening the company’s influence in the global offshore infrastructure market, including by securing a leading position as the exclusive engineering, procurement, construction and installation contractor for the U.S. Delfin project.
The shift comes as Samsung Heavy’s floating offshore facilities, including FLNG and FSRU units, are emerging as a solution for the global energy market. Even as gas demand surges, the supply of land-based terminals is constrained by a shortage of available sites and difficulties in building new berths. In that context, placing energy infrastructure at sea is gaining momentum.
According to the shipbuilding industry on the 19th, Samsung Heavy Industries’ cumulative orders this year stand at 22 vessels worth $4.7 billion. By vessel type, the orders include four crude oil carriers, two ethane carriers, two gas carriers, two container ships and 12 LNG carriers, including one LNG-FSRU, or floating liquefied natural gas storage and regasification unit.
Among them, the order for one LNG-FSRU worth 484.8 billion won, disclosed on the 4th, is a key signal of structural change in the global energy market. Major overseas shipowners are moving away from land-based terminals, which require at least five years for permitting and construction, and are rapidly shifting their energy supply chain strategies toward offshore bases that can be deployed immediately. Samsung Heavy is seen as having preemptively targeted this offshore infrastructure transition, expanding beyond its commercial vessel backlog into the specialized vessel market.
No Land to Meet Gas Demand
The biggest issue in the global gas market today is the infrastructure limit caused by a shortage of land for terminal construction, even as vessel demand surges.
According to industry officials, demand for natural gas conversion is rising sharply as the global push for cleaner energy spreads. But in emerging importing countries and parts of Europe, building land-based terminals to receive gas takes at least five years because of land shortages and strict environmental approval procedures. As vessels increase rapidly, supply chains are running into an asymmetric bottleneck because there is not enough land to support the necessary infrastructure.
The pace of transition toward offshore platforms is expected to accelerate further as geopolitical risks from the Middle East, including tensions around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, become prolonged. Shipping companies and project owners, under pressure to diversify and quickly reorganize gas supply chains, are turning away from land-based facilities with clear construction limits and toward floating offshore units that can store, produce and regasify gas directly at sea.
“For project owners who must urgently reorganize their energy supply chains because of geopolitical instability, the trend is clear: they are turning to floating offshore facilities that can be deployed immediately instead of land-based terminals that take years to complete,” a Samsung Heavy Industries official said. “Inquiries and orders are picking up speed.” The inclusion of one LNG-FSRU in the company’s May order results reflects how this market trend is translating into concrete performance.
As a result, expectations are rising that large offshore plant projects Choi has focused on could be converted into final contracts within the year.
Representative examples include the U.S. Delfin FLNG project and Mozambique’s Coral Norte project, both of which have been under close discussion throughout the first half and are awaiting final investment decisions this year. In a market where a single project can be worth several trillion won, Samsung Heavy has already delivered six of the 11 newly ordered FLNG units worldwide, cementing its No. 1 global market share of 55 percent.
Behind that dominance is Samsung Heavy’s proprietary technology, which has appealed to global project owners. The FSRU ordered this time will be equipped with S-Regas, a regasification system developed independently by Samsung Heavy. The system recovers cold energy generated when liquid LNG is converted into gas and uses it to produce electricity. It is a high-efficiency technology that can supply more than 90 percent of the electricity needed to operate the facility.
For shipowners, the system not only reduces fuel costs but also cuts carbon dioxide emissions by more than 60,000 tons a year. That makes it an eco-friendly solution in the global gas market, where operators must meet increasingly strict environmental regulations.
Industry observers say Samsung Heavy’s leading position as the exclusive EPCI contractor for the U.S. Delfin project reflects its overwhelming track record and proven execution capabilities. They expect those verified delivery records to become a competitive weapon, creating a virtuous cycle that could further strengthen Samsung Heavy’s dominance in follow-on offshore plant orders, including potential projects in Mozambique later this year.
“As Middle East risks become prolonged, more shipowners need to reorganize global gas supply chains safely and as quickly as possible,” a company official said. “For global project owners who cannot wait years for land-based terminals to be completed, Samsung Heavy Industries’ offshore platforms, which can operate immediately at sea, are being recognized as a clear alternative.”
- This article was translated by ChatGPT. (이 기사는 챗GPT가 번역했습니다.)
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