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South Korea's prime minister and defense minister apologized as hundreds of COVID-19-infected sailors were flown to Seoul on Tuesday after a navy destroyer patrolling the waters off Africa was found to be riddled with the coronavirus.Almost 250 of the 301 unvaccinated crew aboard the destroyer Munmu the Great were infected, sparking a public furor at the government's failure to protect those serving abroad. read moreThe whole crew arrived home on Tuesday after the government carried out an emergency air evacuation…

South Korea's military has recorded in biggest cluster of COVID-19 infections to date, with more than 80% of personnel aboard a destroyer on anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden testing positive.While the 247 cases are not directly linked to new domestic infections, with the destroyer having left South Korea to start its mission in February, the surge comes as the country battles its worst-ever outbreak of COVID-19 cases at home, with another 1,252 new infections reported for…

South Korea is sending a medical team to the Middle East to tackle a coronavirus outbreak on one of its ships on anti-piracy patrol while at home, new daily infections are hovering around record levels with 1,600 reported on Thursday.South Korea was for months a coronavirus success story as it kept outbreaks under control with testing, tracing and social distancing but the Delta variant has been fueling a new wave of persistent infections in recent weeks.The outbreak on the South Korean destroyer with some 300 service members on board operating in the Gulf of Aden is another headache for the a

A South Korean delegation is heading to Iran on Wednesday to seek the release of a chemicals tanker and its 20-member crew seized in Gulf waters by Iranian forces, Yonhap news agency reported.Iran denied on Tuesday it was using the ship and its crew as hostages, a day after it seized the tanker near the Strait of Hormuz while pressing a demand for Seoul to release $7 billion in funds frozen under U.S. sanctions.The seizure of the MT Hankuk Chemi has been seen as an attempt by Tehran to assert its demands, just two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office in the United States. Iran wants Biden to lift sanctions that were imposed…

South Korea's foreign ministry is reviewing whether a senior diplomat would be visiting Tehran on Sunday as planned, an official said, after Iranian forces seized a South Korean-flagged chemical tanker in Gulf waters and detained its crew.The incident comes amid tensions between Tehran and Seoul over Iranian funds frozen in South Korean banks due to U.S. sanctions. Iranian state TV cited a Tehran government official as saying Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun had been due to discuss Iran's demand that $7 billion in frozen funds be released.In Seoul a foreign ministry official told Reuters "the plan is unclear as of now" regarding Choi's visit.Iranian media said on Monday that Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps had seized the tanker Hankuk Chemi over pollution violations.

South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine and Engineering (DSME) has received an order for a large liquefied natural gas (LNG) floating storage regasification unit (FSRU).In a statement on the Korea Exchange, DSME said the contract was worth around 411 billion South Korean Won, or around $330 million.DSME did not say who the client was, except that it was a shipowner based in Central America. The vessel is expected to be delivered in late-June 2023.According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, the deal will become effective after the client makes a final investment decision on the project.Further, citing DSME, Yonhap said that the client would provide compensation for the costs related to the construction of the FSRU, if the final investment decision is not made.

South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Group, which includes the world's largest shipyard, aims for a revenue of USD 15.9 billion in 2020.Yonhap News Agency said the combined target of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. remains unchanged from last year’s goal.HHI said it aims to bag $8 billion worth of deals in 2020, according to the report.Hyundai Mipo Dockyard said in a regulatory filing that it aims to clinch deals worth $3.65 billion this year.In 2019, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard won orders worth $2.7 billion, achieving 76 percent of its annual order target of $3.53 billion.Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries said it aims to secure orders worth $4.25 billion this year.

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KOSE), a manufacturer of oil tankers, cargo and passenger vessels, and warships, and Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) plans to set up a joint venture to build engines.According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency the JV will break ground for the plant in the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services in the kingdom’s eastern coast in September 2020, and the project is set to be completed in May 2022.The Korean company is working to build a shipyard at the complex through a separate JV with Saudi Aramco, UAE-based Lamprell and the Saudi National Shipping Company (Bahri).

Ørsted A/S, the world’s largest offshore wind power producer, said it sees high potential in the Korean offshore wind power market, intending to build long-term, sustainable relationships with the Korean government and companies.“South Korea is a peninsula surrounded by three seas,” said Park Jung-min, head of the Korean market development at Ørsted Asia Pacific. “We estimate that South Korea’s potential offshore wind power capacity can reach 30 GW.”According to Yonhap News Agency, the Danish state-run energy firm has recently completed the establishment of its Korean branch following South Korea’s announcement of a “Renewable Energy 3020 Plan…

Pirates attacked a South Korean-flagged cargo ship in the South China Sea early on Monday, stealing thousands of dollars in cash and even the sailors' shoes, South Korean authorities said.Two people sustained minor injuries when seven pirates boarded the CK Bluebell and made off with $13,000 and belongings including mobile phones, clothes and shoes from the 22-strong crew, officials from the oceans and fisheries ministry said.Tougher policing has made piracy less frequent on the strategic shipping route in recent years.The dry bulk vessel CK Bluebell had set sail from its anchorage off Singapore on Saturday afternoon, heading northeast for South Korea's port of Incheon, Refinitiv Eikon ship tracking data showed.Korean officials said the ship was sailing normally after the robbery.The incid

South Korean shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) said  it received an order to build two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers for an unidentified European shipping company.Yonhap news agency quoted the shipbuilder saying that the order is valued at 463 billion South Korean won ($390 million), bringing its total number of orders to five so far this year.The 180,000 cbm vessels, ordered by an undisclosed European owner, are scheduled for delivery by the end of June 2022.According to the report, the vessels will be equipped with Mark III Flex Plus technology that has a vaporization rate of 0.07 percent, reducing the daily evaporation of fuels.

South Korean shipbuilders came in first worldwide in total new orders in February, outpacing Chinese rivals, Yonhap news agency said. It comes around 90 percent of the new vessel construction orders awarded in the month.According to the data compiled by industry tracker Clarkson Research Institute, Korean shipyards garnered new orders totaling 630,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs) in February to build eight ships (or 90 percent), out of the 700,000 CGTs (15 vessels).Third spot went to Japanese shipbuilders with 10-thousand CGT.In the first two months of 2019, Chinese shipbuilders won orders totaling 1.24 million CGTs (65 vessels or 41 percent)…

South Korea’s shipbuilding giant  Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has secured an order for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier from Greece-based shipowner.According to Yonhap News Agency the South Korean shipbuilder received an order to build an LNG carrier for Maran Gas Maritime, a unit of the Angelicoussis Shipping Group.The newbuilding - 174,000 cbm ship - is expected to be delivered to its owner by the first half of 2021. The value of the contract has not been disclosed.Daewoo Shipbuilding has obtained US$740 million worth of orders so far this year to build seven ships, including oil tankers, Yonhap said.Daewoo Shipbuilding is aiming to win $8 billion worth of new orders in 2019, up 10 percent from last year's order target of $7.3 billion.

South Korea's shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has set a 2019 shipbuilding total sales target of USD15.9 billion.According to the Yonhap News Agency, this is a 20.7 percent increase on last year's target of $13.2 billion. The group - including HHI, Hyundai Samho Heavy and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard - won $13.7 billion worth of deals in 2018.Yonhap said that HHI vowed to win deals worth $8 billion in the shipbuilding segment, followed by Hyundai Samho Heavy and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard with $4.3 billion and $3.5 billion, respectively.The co-CEOs of Hyundai Heavy Industries said the company will continue making efforts to cut production costs to maintain profitability and return to profit this year.“As the supply surplus still exists, the number of new orders for ships is limited.

South Korean shipping firm Korea Line Corporation (KLC) has placed an order for two new very large crude carriers(VLCC) at country's biggest yard, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), and the company will explore further collaborations with the country's shipbuilders. According to Yonhap news agency, the new VLCCs are expected to have been delivered by the  2020. The total amount of the agreement will amount at 185.6 billion won (US$173 million). The carriers, which can hold 300,000 tons of crude oil each, will be used in transporting petroleum for GS-Caltex Corp., the second-largest refiner in South Korea, the report said, quoting Korea Line. The company recently signed a long-term deal with GS-Caltex to ship crude oil.

South Korean authorities have seized a Panama-flagged vessel suspected of transferring oil products to North Korea in violation of international sanctions, a customs official said on Sunday. The seizure was the second to be revealed by South Korea within a few days, as the United Nations steps up efforts to squeeze essential oil supplies to the reclusive North following its nuclear or ballistic missile tests. The ship, KOTI, was seized at Pyeongtaek-Dangjin port, the official told Reuters, without elaborating, due to the sensitivity of the issue.

South Korea's major shipyards are projected to report weaker-than-expected earnings for the third quarter of the year, due to increased costs and the construction of low-priced ships amid decreased new orders. Yonhap News Agency, quoting data compiled by Yonhap Infomax, said that Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) is expected to log an operating income of 106 billion won (US$93.6 million) during the July-September period, compared with the previous year's operating earnings of 322 billion won. Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), another big shipbuilder here, is forecast to rack up an operating income of 39 billion won for the third quarter, compared with an operating income of 84 billion won tallied a year earlier.

South Korea's Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) suffered an operating deficit of USD 112 million in the second quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing. The third quarter will bring much better results, says the carrier. Yonhap News Agency said that the company attributed operating loss in the second quarter due to the low season weakening container freight rates. Sales, however, jumped 22.1 percent on-year to 1.24 trillion won over the cited period when compared to a revenue of KRW 1,016.8  billion seen in the same quarter last year. “Although revenues increased, which helped narrow the company’s operating loss, freight rates remained low, denting our bottom line,” it said.

Hanjin Shipping, once the country's top shipping line,  will be delisted from the domestic bourse today (March 7), ending its eight-year trading history, Yonhap News Agency said citing industry sources. According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) the company will be delisted from the main KOSPI market after seven sessions of sell-off trading. It was listed on the bourse Dec. 29, 2009, at 21,300 won ($18.41). It reached a record high of KRW 38,694 per share in January 2011. Hanjin Shipping was put under court receivership in September last year, as its creditors, led by the KDB, rejected its self-rescue plan. After being declared bankrupt on Feb. 9, the country's bourse operator, the Korea Exchange, has allowed investors to unload Hanjin Shipping stocks.

South Korea’s Samra Midas Group (SM Group) said that it is looking to acquire some overseas shippers, among other businesses in an effort to expand its foothold in the maritime sector, Yonhap News Agency cited one of the company’s officials. SM Group, which was picked as the preferred bidder for STX Corp., a general trading company, last week, also purchased the now-defunct Hanjin Shipping Co.'s U.S.-Asia route and other assets for 37 billion won (US$32 million) late last year. SM Group plans to pour 130 billion won ($115 million) into STX. In 2013, SM Group also acquired Korea Line Corp., the country's No. 2 bulk carrier. Korea Line currently operates some 30 vessels…

A large South Korean cargo ship with 24 crew on board is believed to have sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after making an SOS call, News agencies reported quoting the Uruguayan navy. The Stellar Daisy was missing after making its last contact in the South Atlantic about 2,500 kilometres (1,500 miles) from shore, South Korea's foreign ministry and news reports said on Sunday. On Friday, a crew member sent a text saying the 312m-long (1024ft) Stellar Daisy freighter was taking on water. The Uruguayan navy alerted merchant ships in the area, which began a search. Two Filipino crew members were rescued floating in a life raft on Saturday, but other lifeboats and rafts found in the area were empty, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea's major shipyards are estimated to have racked up solid profit during the second quarter of the year, aided by the increased delivery of ships, cost-cutting measures and a rise in new orders, Yonhap reported citing industry sources. Another report said that Korean yards have clinched the most new shipbuilding orders in the first half of the year, with their combined tally more than doubling from a year earlier. The trend appears bullish for ship building in the country. The local shipyards have bagged orders worth a combined 2.56 million compensated gross tons in the January-June period, accounting for 34 percent of the total orders placed around the globe, according to the data compiled by industry tracker Clarkson Research.

South Korea’s shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) is looking to further cut its workforce,  and have employees return part of their salaries in order to cut costs, according to Yonhap News Agency. SHI unveiled a self-restructuring program that centers on cutting the workforce and having executives return part of their salaries last year, in order to tide over a protracted slump in the shipbuilding sector. The report said that Samsung Heavy was forced to reduce its workforce by 1,500 in 2016 through an early retirement scheme. The shipyard aims to slash its workforce by a total of 5,000 by 2018. The shipyard won $4.8 billion worth of orders to build 13 ships, including two offshore plants, in the first six months of the year.