Saudi Aramco, Korea Shipbuilding Roll-out New JV

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). The International Maritime Industries Company is 30% complete.

Saudi Arabia and South Korea formed a Vision 2030 Joint Group in 2017 to enhance economic cooperation.

Aramco recently signed a number of agreements with Korean firms, including an agreement with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and the Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Company (Dussur) to create a JV for a world-class engine manufacturing and after sales facility.

HHI has been recently split into two with the newly established Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering Company.

The oil-rich kingdom has been seeking to diversify its economic portfolios following a plunge in oil prices in recent years. Saudi Arabia sees auto, shipbuilding, renewable energy and other areas as new growth drivers.