DSME Wins FSRU Order

South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) said on Sunday that it has won a combined 700 billion won ($590 million) in potential orders from a Greek shipping company.

The order for an FSRU comes from Maran Tankers Management - a unit of Greece's largest shipper, Angelicoussis Shipping Group.

The deal also includes the option of building two LNG tankers with an additional order possible for next year, reports local news agency Yonhap.

DSME has delivered 89 ships to the Greek company and its affiliates since 1994.

Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and DSME have all been under heavy financial pressure given the challenging conditions in the container, bulk and offshore sectors. All have come up with government-sponsored restructuring plans, and have announced thousands of layoffs in an attempt to reduce overhead.

In November, DSME's main creditor, Korea Development Bank (KDB), said it would cancel about 60 million of its DSME shares and reduce the remaining stake by a ratio of ten shares to one to cut the shipyard’s debt-to-asset ratio. It will then inject 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion) in a debt-for-equity swap. The Export-Import Bank of Korea will buy one trillion won in Daewoo-issued perpetual bonds to shore up Daewoo's finances, KDB added.