Korean Yards

S. Korea Eyes Cruise Building Market

Han Jong-chan assembles the massive blocks used to build ships at one of South Korea's huge and successful shipbuilding yards and has never been happier. Han has worked Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering's famed shipyard on remote Koje island here for 18 of his 38 years, recently on night shifts as hefty orders force workers to man giant cranes and welding shops around the clock. Despite a troubled past, a looming dispute with the European Union over subsidies and growing competition from China, the future is looking rosy -- particularly with Korean yards eyeing the potentially lucrative market for cruise ships. The port of Okpo is synonymous with the Daewoo Group and the efforts of its now disgraced founder, Kim Woo-choong, in rescuing a state-run shipyard devastated by the global oil shocks of the 1970s. Despite setbacks in the 1980s as the sector fell into a slump, the shipyard, helped by government subsidies, sailed smoothly through much of the 1990s, until exposure to weak Daewoo sister firms again spelled trouble. But unlike siblings such as bankrupt Daewoo Motor, which was rocked by the collapse of the group in 1999, the shipbuilder has struggled back, and workers such as Han are logging the overtime to prove it. "Yes, I feel tired physically," said Han. "But I am happy because the company is not going to lay us off as long as there is lots of work to do."

Report: Need for More Smaller Korean Yards Seen

According to Ariang News, several major Korean shipyards dominate the world shipbuilding market, but it looks like the industry could use more smaller players. Only 14 Korean shipyards made it to the world's top 100 shipbuilders. The list was compiled by the London-based market researcher Clarkson based on orders. The figure compares with 28 Japanese and 27 Chinese shipyards that made the cut. Analysts say this is because Korean shipbuilders have focused mainly on building large-scale

Japan Orders $1.8B in LNG Tankers

According to a Bloomberg report, Nippon Yusen K.K. and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., Japan's two largest shipping lines, will join Qatar in ordering $1.8 billion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers to carry the fuel to North America. The ships will be built in as yet-unnamed South Korean yards. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Japan's third-biggest shipping company, Iino Kaiun Kaisha Ltd. and trading house Mitsui & Co. are also among the investors, according to the report.

Wärtsilä Earns Repeat Order from Messina

Wärtsilä has been contracted by the Korean yard STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, to supply exhaust gas cleaning systems for four new Container Ro/Ro (ConRo) vessels being built for Ignazio Messina & Co, the Italy based ship owner and operator. This latest order will enable the new vessels to comply with both current and pending environmental legislation relating to exhaust emissions. For ships sailing in European waters, the maximum sulphur content will be limited to 0

Korean Shipyards Hold Lead in Market

Yonhap reported that South Korean shipyards have unparalleled competitiveness despite recent challenges posed by Chinese shipyards, industry and government sources said. The optimistic predictions come as alarm bells have been sounded over Chinese yards outpacing domestic companies in shipbuilding orders received in the first two months of this year. Such developments have caused some in China to boast that it can become the world's number one shipbuilding country by 2015.

LPG Fleet Rates Rise

The world LPG carrier fleet is forecast to expand from 14.5 million cu. m. at the beginning of 2005 to 24.6 million cu. m. by 2015. World seaborne LPG trade (including ammonia and petchems) is forecast to increase from 73 mt to 132 mt over the same period. These are some of the findings in the new detailed report – entitled ‘LPG Carriers: Market Prospects to 2015’ – which analyses the current and historical developments within the LPG carrier sector and examines the prospects for trade

Fruit of the Orient

Through a longstanding blend of organizational discipline and an unerring drive for the highest levels of automation attainable in shipbuilding processes, the industry in Japan demonstrates resilience founded on continuing productivity advances. Untiring efforts to seek new ways of reducing man-hours and lead times is wholly characteristic of Japanese companies, as they rise to the intensified challenge posed by equally resolute South Korean yards.

HHI Launches Korean Destroyer

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has constructed the first 4000-ton class Korean destroyer ordered by the Republic of Korea Navy. The launching ceremony for the warship was held on April 11, 2004 at HHI’s Special and Naval Shipbuilding Yard in Ulsan. . During the launching ceremony, First Lady Kwon Yang-sook named the warship Munmudaewang-ham. The warship takes its name after "Munmudaewang (The Great King Munmu)", the king of the Silla Dynasty who unified the Korean peninsular and strived to

Drewry’s Forecast Warns Carriers

Drewry believes that the industry has emerged from the global recession with both carrier profitability and demand figures bearing this out, but still ask whether or not the industry has learnt anything? The fact that no major companies went to the wall still seems to have insulated the industry from the despair of 2009 and there is now the feeling that perhaps the dark days did not happen. In essence, Drewry observes that it is back to normal operating conditions.

TOP Ships Q4 & FY2009 Results

TOP Ships Inc. (NASDAQ: TOPS) announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009. For the fourth quarter of 2009, the company reported: --  A net loss of $35.9 million or $1.20 per share. The results of the fourth quarter of 2009 include an impairment charge of $36.6 million relating to the write-down of the older two of the Company's tanker vessels to their fair market values