Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering won an order worth 446.5 billion won ($373.6 million) to build two very large liquefied natural gas carriers for an unnamed client in the Americas.

Daewoo Shipbuilding said Friday that the deal called for the construction of eco-friendly vessels installed with natural gas-powered engines and a system that enhances fuel efficiency and reduces pollutant emissions. Details were not given. The shipbuilder achieved 51 percent of this year's goal of securing orders worth $8.37 billion, including nine LNG carriers and seven very large crude carriers.

In a separate deal, Daewoo Shipbuilding, the main builder of South Korean submarines, clinched an order worth 1.11 trillion won from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), a state body controlled by the defense ministry, to design and build a 3,000-ton submarine for the second batch of South Korea's KSS-III diesel-electric submarine program.

South Korea has a three-stage project to develop a fleet of submarines. Through the first phase, nine 1,200-ton diesel-electric submarines have been built with technical help from Germany. The second phase calls for the construction of six 1,800-ton vessels. Through the third phase, submarines of 3,000 ton or more are to be built with indigenous technologies.

The KSS-III ship can carry up to 10 submarine-launched cruise missiles. The first 3,000-ton submarine, unveiled in September last year, can sail at a maximum speed of 37 kilometers per hour with about 50 people aboard and was installed with lead-acid batteries which are relatively inexpensive and reliable.

South Korea has completed the preliminary design of a diesel-electric submarine carrying a lithium-ion battery, which is more power-efficient that those using lead-acid batteries.