Japan’s trading house Mitsui & Co is being named as the shipowner behind a KRW 242.1bn ($187m) order for four MR tanker newbuildings announced last week by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co (HD KSOE).

The sub-holding company for HD Hyundai said Ulsan-based Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) will build the 50,000-dwt product carriers.

The Hyundai shipbuilding group did not disclose the name of the buyer and only referred to the contracting party as an “African shipper”.