Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Korea's first 3,000-ton Dosan Ahn Changho-class submarine is displayed at its launching ceremony in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering's shipyard. / Courtesy of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering |
The nation's big three shipbuilders are scrambling to secure more deals to overcome a series of skeptical outlooks on their 2019 earnings as the end of the year is nearing. The three shipbuilders are Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI).
According to industry sources, the three shipbuilders are receiving a growing number of orders since the third quarter of the year. Of them, SHI is drawing attention for clinching a series of big deals.
SHI said Thursday it inked a deal worth 485.3 billion won ($405 million) to build two 174,000-cubic meter liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers for Malaysia International Shipping Corporation.
The latest order came after its Tuesday announcement that the shipyard also signed a 1.1 trillion won worth of order to build six 23,000-TEU container ships from Taiwan's shipping company Evergreen Line. The 23,000-TEU container ship will be the world's largest container ship when it is built.
With the two orders above, SHI has clinched deals for 37 vessels valued at a combined $5.4 billion so far this year, achieving 69 percent of its annual order target of $7.8 billion. The figure is higher than the remaining two Korean shipyards.
HHI also said it has achieved 48 percent of the shipyard's annual order target, with its latest deal worth 676.6 billion won with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) to build a next-generation Aegis destroyer of the Korean Navy.
A local media outlet said the shipyard is also in talks with Singapore's Eastern Pacific and Greece's Capital Marine Time over possible building of large-sized containers and LNG carriers, respectively.
"Shipbuilders generally clinch more deals in the second half," said an HHI official. "Some projects are showing progress with an ordering party."
DSME also announced a series of its recent deals with the DAPA to design and build a 3,000-ton submarine. The order is worth 1.11 trillion won.
DSME has achieved 51 percent of its annual sales target.
Despite a series of deals they inked at home and abroad, experts said it will be difficult for them to reach 100 percent of their annual sales target.
"Ship companies are discouraged by a series of global regulations on emission," the official said.
"In the long term, however, newly implemented global regulations will be a favorable factor for Korean shipyards since they feature more eco-friendly shipbuilding technologies than their foreign competitors."
