In order to sell off its charter shipping business units including LNG carriers, Hyundai Group has selected underwriters and is ready to take letters of intent from potential buyers by March 6. The group's bulk carrier charter business consists of LNG and coal-and-iron-ore shipping. In its business normalization plan, Hyundai Group estimated each business segment's value at 1.7 trillion won and 340 billion won, respectively.

Both business units have been profitable for years. Hyundai Merchant Marine is responsible for about 6.9 million tons of liquefied natural gas, or 20 percent of all domestic needs, with its 11 LNG carriers. Of these, eight ships have a long-term contract with Korea Gas Corp. until 2028. As for the carriers for coal and iron ore, the unit has signed long-term agreements with major customers like POSCO, Korea Electric Power Co., Glovis, and Hebei Iron and Steel by 2025 or 2033.

For this reason, the expectations are there will be many buyers including private equity fund firms. A financial regulator said, "Earlier we thought Hyundai's charter shipping units would take a lot of time to be sold. Now that we see, however, they would be sold quickly."