Korean final bidders for UK Navy

South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering are confirmed on 17 November that they are the final bidders for UK's naval support ships project.

Defense industry player said, "Hyundai and Daewoo became the final bidders for UK's naval projects, leaving Fincantieri of Italy behind."

Added, "Korea is likely to finalize this contract, showing that Korean shipbuilders also lead defense sector."

The ships are to transport ammunitions, commodities, etc., and supply military forces. This project covers four 15,000-dwt newbuilding naval support vessels, valued at $800m.


Published : November 17, 2011

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Offshore for new growth

Mr Oh Kong-gyun, Chairman and CEO of the Korean Register says the global shipbuilding sector should seek growth opportunities from the offshore industry.

Speaking at the 4th Seoul International Shipbuilding and Maritime Conference (SIMS) in Korea this week, Mr Oh explained that while the world fleet is continuing to grow, the number of new orders decreased within the period 2006-2009.

"It can be assumed", he said, "that over the coming 10 years, the yearly average newbuilding order book will be less than that of the past 10 years. The demand for containerships, tankers and LNG carriers will decrease, while the construction of offshore platforms will show strength in the market place owing to a high demand for energy, increased investment in the exploitation of oil and gas and higher oil prices. The increased demand for deep-sea crude oil and natural gas will also lead to heightened newbuilding activities for deep-sea oil platforms. The operational areas for these platforms will be mainly in Africa and the Gulf of Mexico"

Mr Oh was joined at this year's SIMS event by Mr Kwon Oh-yoon, General Manager, KOSHIPA, the Korean Shipbuilders' Association who reminded delegates that Korea has been the global leader in shipbuilding since 2002. He went on to say that although the markets were still uncertain, Korean shipbuilders had experienced a recovery in new orders during the first half of 2011. To assist with securing further new business, the yards were concentrating on innovation and maintaining top quality management.

The SIMS conference is held each year in Seoul, Korea and this year was attended by around 200 international delegates and speakers. Conference topics included future prospects for the international shipping and shipbuilding markets, green-ship technology and the global piracy problem. Speakers were invited from a range of European, American and Asian shipping interests including shipbuilding, finance, legal, ship-operating, research and classification.


Published : November 18, 2011

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Daewoo year-end order shower

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering of South Korea is expected to derive huge benefits from new order for offshore division.

Analyst Seo Jung-Duk from Meritz Securities said, "Daewoo is in a spurt to meet 2011 order estimate of $14bn by winning additional new order. Optional newbuildings would increase the order tally, if firmed up."

The last rush of new order is expected in the end of Q4 with $1.1bn newbuilding submarine from Indonesia and other offshore special ships.

Seo expected, "New orders for offshore production facility would be disclosed in the beginning of 2012. In particular, over $2bn of big offshore project would make up new order shortage of commercial ship."


Published : November 18, 2011

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STX pens 16,000TEU's

South Korea's STX Offshore & Shipbuilding revealed on 16 November that it inked new order for 2+4 16,000-teu ultra-large boxships from European shipping company.



Also, STX finalized newbuilding contract modification with European owner, previously ordered in October 2010, to scale up four containerships into 16,000-teu.


New order and adjusted newbuilding contract totals $1.6bn.



The 16,000-teu boxships, 399m in length, 54m in breadth and 30m in height, are built at Jinhae yard with delivery starting from Q3 2014.


Meanwhile, the recent 2+4 16,000-teu newbuildings are estimated to be ordered from Zodiac. It had previously placed new order for 4+6 13,000-teu boxships in October 2010.



The second largest boxship in the world after 18,000-teu lowers transportation costs as well as CO2 and other noxious gas emission. Also, it introduced a fuel-efficient technology to reduce sludges.


STX said, "The newly ordered contract is considered as a first runner for future new order for large containership and global containership owners' preparatory fleet arrangement for large-boxship is forecast to continue for a while."



Published : November 16, 2011

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Japan to join offshore market

Japanese shipbuilders are under examination of entering into newbuilding offshore support vessel market.

Japan is confident of surging demand for OSV in the future on account of increasing offshore development projects in the world.

However, Japan should prepare for its lack of experiences and high costs in entering newbuilding OSV market.


Moreover, in case of anchor handling tug supply (AHTS), the demand would temporarily slow down as its newbuilding orderbook mounts up.



Meanwhile, only Universal Shipbuilding, among other major shipbuilders in Japan, builds AHTS with its own design at the moment and has delivered its first platform support vessel in September 2011.




Published : November 17, 2011

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Korean final bidders for UK Navy

South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering are confirmed on 17 November that they are the final bidders for UK's naval support ships project.



Defense industry player said, "Hyundai and Daewoo became the final bidders for UK's naval projects, leaving Fincantieri of Italy behind."


Added, "Korea is likely to finalize this contract, showing that Korean shipbuilders also lead defense sector."

The ships are to transport ammunitions, commodities, etc., and supply military forces. This project covers four 15,000-dwt newbuilding naval support vessels, valued at $800m.



Published : November 17, 2011

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Philippines mulls shipbuilding

The Philippines has the potential to grow its shipbuilding and ship-repair businesses, but it has to resolve several constraints first, government officials said.

“Ship repair is a very profitable industry... [the Philippines] can take advantage of... the strategic location of the country to shipping routes,” Emerson M. Lorenzo, Maritime Industry Authority Administrator, said in a speech during the Philippine International Maritime Conference and Exhibition 2011.

Mr. Lorenzo said the country’s ship-repair industry now relies on an “ageing domestic merchant fleet” to survive.

For shipbuilding, he said, the country still has “very few” projects, even as business has picked up since 2006.

“The size and number of locally constructed ships like tanker and passenger ferries showed increasing trend since 2006,” he said.

One of the basic problems of the shipbuilding and ship-repair industries, Mr. Lorenzo said, is projects’ generally bigger costs.

Another problem is having “less efficient operations” compared to foreign shipyards, as local ones take longer to build or repair vessels.

“Domestic shipowners prefer to have new ships constructed in foreign shipyards due to lower cost and shorter delivery time,” Mr. Lorenzo said, adding that they also “prefer to have their ships drydocked and repaired in foreign shipyards due to lower expenses and shorter downtime.”

Mr. Lorenzo cited the need for “financing and incentives for local shipyard modernization and upgrading.”

One way to draw business despite current constraints is to forge joint ventures between local and foreign shipyards.

Shipyard skill training and technical education programs should also be in place, he added.


Published : November 16, 2011

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Hanjin starts modernization

Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction of South Korea is to modernize its Youngdo yard for early normalization after settlement between the management and labor union.

Hanjin revealed on 15 November, "We decided to reorganize and up-grade Youngdo yard, which suffered from 11-month dispute regarding layoff."

Youngdo is now emptied out its dock, quay, etc., with no new order.

Hanjin said, "The outwarn Youngdo yard is to go through safety procedure and upgrade of some facility. Also, reorganization of dock and quay and replacement of 100-ton crane are in discussion."


Published : November 16, 2011

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Wartsila-Doosan licence extension

Mr Sung-Hee Lee, President & CEO of Doosan Engine Co. Ltd. and Mr Martin Wernli, President, Wärtsilä Switzerland, Vice President, Product Centre 2-stroke

Wärtsilä, the marine industry's leading solutions provider, and its Korean partner, Doosan Engine Co. Ltd, a member of the Doosan Group, have signed a ten year extension to the licensing agreement to build Wärtsilä low-speed engines. The agreement renewal covers the period from 2012 to 2021.

Doosan Engine Co. Ltd, along with its predecessor licence holders Korea Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries, has been a long standing licensee of Wärtsilä, altogether for 28 years. It has produced close to 400 engines with a total power of over 20,000,000 BHP. Doosan Engine is the second biggest engine manufacturer in the world.

Under the terms of the agreement, the licensee is authorised to manufacture and sell Wärtsilä low-speed marine diesel engines within its specified territory. The full range of Wärtsilä RTA, RT-flex, and X-series marine engines are included in the scope of the agreement.

"We are very pleased to renew this agreement with our business partner in Korea. Doosan Engine is a major global producer of large marine diesel engines, and this agreement strengthens our partnership in promoting Wärtsilä brand low-speed engines in the territory. Our expectations are high for increasing our market share in the Korean market, and we are confident that by extending this agreement for a further ten years, our goals can be achieved," says Mr Martin Wernli, President, Wärtsilä Switzerland, Vice President, Product Centre 2-stroke. Wärtsilä in Switzerland is the centre for the company's 2-stroke engine R&D and business operations.

"By renewing this licence agreement, both companies will continue their close co-operation in providing the latest technology low-speed engines to the rapidly changing shipbuilding market. It is a win-win growth opportunity for both companies, and will certainly strengthen their market positions," says Mr Sung-Hee Lee, President & CEO of Doosan Engine Co. Ltd.

The agreement was signed at a ceremony held on 7 November 2011 at the headquarters of Doosan Engine Co. Ltd in Changwon, South Korea.


Published : November 16, 2011

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'Smart Ship' new growth

Hyundai Heavy Industries' 'Smart Ship' becomes a new growth engine to winning new order.

South Korea's Hyundai already booked 68 smart ships, being integrated IT into ship, and forecasts that a total of over-70 smart ships would newly ordered in 2011.

The Smart ship is the world's first next-generation intelligent ship made by Hyundai. It enables to monitor and control marine equipment, navigation information, internal system, etc., in real-time by satellite.

Ship Area Network (SAN) integrates advanced control & integration system (ACONIS-DS), voyage data recorder (VDR), bridge maneouvring system (BMS) and others into one network.

Smart ship had first applied to AP Moller-Maersk's boxship, then expanded to additional 40-odd newbuildings from the Danish operator.

Following over-27 new orders, accumulated smart ship is totalled 68 vessels up to last month this year.

Hyundai's Smart ship was commercialized after three-year joint-development with Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute and University of Ulsan.

Also, its SAN technology was adopted as an international standard.

Meanwhile, the smart ship is expected to create value-added products in a future newbuilding market.

Published : November 15, 2011

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Kamsarmax resold firm

The resale of a kamsarmax newbuilding at a relatively solid price offers an indication that the seemingly endless fall of asset values in the dry bulk market might also be taking a break.

Brokers reported an 81,700 dwt bulker under construction at STX O&S’ Jinhae shipyard in South Korea, was resold to Illios Shipping of Greece for a price of approximately $33m, with delivery scheduled this year.

According to shipbroker Clarksons’ database, the vessel was originally ordered by Greek shipowner Trojan Marine in May 2007. Whether Trojan cancelled its order or resold the vessel is unknown.

While the $33m reportedly paid fell short of the rumoured $35m asking price, it represents a stable level with the last comparable resale earlier this month, that of a 75,200 dwt panamax under construction at Penglai Jinglu to Brazilian shipowner Norsul Navegação, for $30m.

However, it is worth noting that the Baltic Exchange’s price assessment for five -year-old, 72,000 dwt panamaxes levelled off at the end of October and has since remained level reaching $27m today after falling for over a year from almost $40m in mid-August 2010.


Published : November 15, 2011

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