HHI’s Gunsan Shipyard Fully Booked for its First Year

03 April 2008

Hyundai Heavy Industries’ (HHI) Gunsan shipyard is already fully booked for its first year of operation. The shipyard has taken orders for 12 vessels, one year’s worth of work, despite the fact that they have not yet held a groundbreaking ceremony.

HHI signed a contract to build two VLCCs at the Gusan shipyard. With this order, the shipyard has 12 vessels worth a combined $1.3 billion in its orderbook. The other ten ships are Large Bulk Carriers. HHI also confirmed an additional contract for two Large Bulk Carriers to be delivered in 2011. A contract signing ceremony will be held at the end of April of this year.

The Gunsan shipyard has thus confirmed orders worth a total of $1.5 billion, 58% of its new-order target of 28 ships worth a combined $2.6 billion dollars.

“We are expecting to achieve our new-order target shortly based on the fact that we can deliver ships much sooner than our competitors thanks to the technology that we have,” an HHI official said.

HHI would like to simplify the types of ships in the Gunsan shipyard’s orderbook, taking only Large Bulk Carriers and VLCCs as new orders in order to increase production efficiency.

At the end of April of this year, the Gunsan shipyard plans to start construction of its shipyard at the same time that it begins building ships. This will mirror HHI’s history. In 1971 HHI had taken an order for two VLCCs before holding their groundbreaking in 1972, when the company began to build the shipyard and the ships at the same time.

The Gunsan shipyard will employ 6,500 and plans to deliver 12-14 ships annually, with a planned expansion to 20 ships in the near future. Its sales target is 2 trillion Won.

The shipyard will be equipped with a one million dwt dry dock and a 1,600-ton gantry crane at its 2.32 million square meter yard. The construction of the advanced and most efficient shipyard will be completed in July of 2009.

Hyundai Heavy Industries, press release