Seoul: Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has revealed that its Gunsan shipyard has taken orders for 12 vessels (one year's worth of work) despite the fact that it has not yet held a groundbreaking ceremony. HHI recently signed a contract to build two VLCCs at the yard (artist's impression pictured), which brought its orderbook to 12 vessels worth a combined $1.3bn. 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 $1.5bn, 58% of its new-order target of 28 ships worth a combined $2.6bn.
"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.
The Gunsan shipyard plans to start construction of its shipyard At the end of April - at the same time that it begins building ships. This move will mirror that by HHI in 1971, when the company began to build the shipyard and two VLCCs at the same time.
The yard will be equipped with a 1m dwt dry dock and a 1,600-ton gantry crane at its 2.32m sq mtr yard. It is scheduled for completion by July 2009.
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. [07/04/08]
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