Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering announced early this morning that it has signed a newbuilding contract for a 157,000-dwt shuttle tanker with an option for another newbuilding attached.
The Korean shipbuilder of middle-standing has signed the contract with Greece's Tsakos for the specialized offshore vessel to be delivered by late 2014.
Sungdong made an entry into the shuttle tanker newbuilding market last year by winning two shuttle tanker orders from the same shipowner in March 2011.
Shipyard officials expect shuttle tanker orders to increase going forward as deepwater oil developments expand.
Meanwhile, Sungdong recently completed building a shuttle tanker on-land and launched it into a floating dock.