Hyundai Heavy Delivers 2,000th Ship
Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has become the world's first shipbuilder to deliver its 2,000th ship. The world's largest shipbuilding company delivered a drillship, "Ocean BlackLion," to U.S. oil drilling firm Diamond Offshore at the Ulsan shipyard Friday.
Ocean BlackLion, a drillship ordered from Diamond Offshore marked the 2,000th ship HHI completed. The gross tonnage of 2,000 ships HHI built amounts to 126 million, twice the gross tonnage of total ships built last year worldwide.
The top four most-delivered ships of HHI are containerships (583), bulk carriers (357), tankers (232) and VLCCs (147). Country-wise, Greek ordered the most ships of 254 followed by Germany with 238, Japan with 120 and Denmark with 101.
"Delivering 2,000 ships is unprecedented for a single company in the world's shipbuilding history," said HHI Chairman Choi Gil-sun. "We are in a fierce competition with China and Japan. But we will overcome such difficulties, and strengthen our global leadership by ceaselessly innovating and renovating shipbuilding methods."
HHI said companies in Europe and Japan with more than 100 years of history in shipbuilding, which is far older than those of Korean companies, have yet to sell 2,000 ships. The total weight of the 2,000 ships that HHI have produced reaches 126 million gigatons.
HHI built its first ship ― a 266,000-ton very large crude carrier (VLCC) ― at the shipyard in the Mipo Bay in Ulsan, southeast of Seoul, in 1974.
The company set the 1,000th ship-delivery record in March 2002. Two years later, it posted 100 million gross tonnage in ship delivery for the first time in the world, becoming the world's top shipbuilder.
HHI has delivered ships to 308 client companies in 51 countries, including Greece, Germany, Japan and Denmark. Among the 2,000 ships were 583 container ships, 232 tank ships and 147 VLCCs.
