South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has laid the keel for a 84,000cbm Very Large Gas Carrier (VLGC) for its compatriot shipping company KSS Line.

This is the second LPG carrier HHI started building for KSS this month.

The ship, priced at KRW91.4bn (US$76.7m), is due for delivery by the end of March 2017.

KSS inked a seven-year charter contract for the vessel with Japanese LPG importer GYXIS Corporation.

The company has been on an ordering spree recently and has piled up a total of thirteen VLGCs on order. The most recent order was placed just a week ago, when KSS Line ordered another 84,000 cbm LPG carrier from Hyundai Heavy, worth an estimated USD77m and slated for delivery by May 2017.

The shipping company expects to operate nine VLGCs and four mid-sized liquefied petroleum gas carriers by the end of 2017.