Major South Korean shipyard Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Thursday it has won a 365 billion-won ($329 million) order to build four very large gas carriers (VLGCs).

KSOE, the shipbuilding subholding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, said it has signed the contract with Asian and Liberian shipping lines.

Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., a unit of KSOE, will deliver the 86,000-cubic-meter carriers starting in 2023, KSOE said.

The announcement of the new contract came amid expectations of a solid rise in global orders for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers down the road.

According to global market researcher Clarkson Research Service, global orders for LGP carriers are expected to rise 9 percent on-year to 48 ships this year, with the number likely to swell to 58 next year.

KSOE has under its wing three shipbuilders -- Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries. (Yonhap)