Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Friday it has signed orders worth a combined 1.56 trillion won ($ 1.4 billion) to build seven LNG carriers.

A 678 billion-won deal with an Asian company calls for Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a unit of KSOE, to construct three LNG carriers by the end of 2024, KSOE said in a regulatory filing.

Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., another unit of KSOE, has obtained a 462.7 billion-won deal with a European company to build two LNG carriers by the end of March 2024.

Hyundai Samho also struck a 420.7 billion-won deal with a Liberian company to construct two LNG carriers.

KSOE is a holding company of three shipbuilders: Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Samho and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. With the latest orders, KSOE has obtained orders for 176 ships and two offshore plants worth a combined $16.8 billion so far this year, which take up 113 percent of its annual order target worth $14.9 billion. (Yonhap)