Gulf Energy Maritime orders LR1 tankers at K Shipbuilding

Product and chemical tanker owner and operator Gulf Energy Maritime (GEM) has returned to South Korea with a new order for LR1 newbuilds.

Shipbuilding sources suggest the Dubai-based company has tapped K Shipbuilding to add four 75,000 dwt units to its growing orderbook. No price or delivery dates have been revealed. 

Gulf Energy also recently returned to HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea for another pair of 50,000 dwt MR vessels delivering in 2026.

The company was set up in 2004 as a joint venture between Dubai’s Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), the Oman Oil Company and Thales of France.

The outfit, which sold four LR1s last year, currently lists seven ships in operation and six MRs as well as four LR1 newbuilds delivering from HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in the next two years.