Tag: Korea

Decline in new orders for bulk carriers, tankers to hurt medium-sized shipbuilders The shipbuilding sector will be hit hard this year as financially squeezed European ship owners are expected to cut back or cancel orders amid the eurozone debt crisis.Shipbuilding market research firm Clarksons said this year's orders would shrink by 9.7 percent compared to last year due to concerns that the European financial woes will spread and other global uncertainties.The impact will vary, however, between large shipbuilders that make offshore plants or high value-added ships, and medium-sized companies that manufacture mostly merchant vessels.New orders for bulk carriers and tankers, given out by financially troubled shipping companies, are likely to continue downhill, whereas orders for liquefied natural gas carriers or deep-sea oil drilling ships won't fall unless international oil prices plummet. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said there will be constant orders for offshore plants and LNG ships citing major gas development projects under way in Australia and Russia and crude oil exploration in Nigeria.Since Korea's large shipbuilders have strength in producing offshore plants, they will be less affected by the global economic slowdown.Park Moo-hyun, an analyst at E-Trade Securities, said the impact of the declining demand for merchant ships ...

Partnership with Korea and Singapore Modernization of Russian shipbuilding will be realized in partnership with Korea and Singapore.The leader of Russian shipbuilding industry - United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) launches its ambitious program that might return competitiveness to this sector of Russian economy. This sector today includes over 1 thousand of companies and employs more than 450 thousand of specialists.The USC was established in 2007 with 100% state ownership and now administrates 80% of all new projects in shipbuilding industry. It owns more than 30 companies in 11 regions of Russia. In 2007 the Russian Government adopted a program "Development of civil sea technics in 2009-2016".The program provided investments of 140 billion rubles (3,5 billion Euro) which were supposed to be used for purchasing of new foreign technologies and development of Russian technologies suppliers. By the end of this program the volume of Russian shipbuilding is expected to grow 2,5 times.In the nearest few years Russia should build two new modern shipyards on the Far East and to modernize the shipyards on the Baltic Sea - in St. Petersburg ("Admiralteiskie Verfi") and in Kaliningrad ("Yantar'").By the look of things the main partner in modernization of Russian shipbuilding will be the companies ...

The World cruise ship, moored in Israel earlier this week South Korea has been trying to boost its tourism industry as part of its effort to strengthen the domestic economy. On Wednesday, it unveiled its latest plan: getting into the cruise ship business.The plan includes tax benefits for cruise ship operators and training programs for workers who will be employed by the industry, as well as a green light for on-board casinos for foreigners.The initiative comes amid expectations that Chinese tourists-who are already a key source of income for Korea's relatively small tourism and retail industry-will boost demand for cruise tourism in Asia in coming years.Korea doesn't have a local cruise ship operator yet, but the government hopes that changes in regulations will allow the industry to develop.The plan also includes increased terminal and port capacity in order to accommodate a greater influx of cruise ship tourists. Korea currently has just two ports for cruise ships, one in the southern port city of Busan and another at Jeju island, but the government aims to build up or expand dedicated terminals in existing ports as well as in other areas like Incheon and Yeosu on the southwest coast.It remains to be ...

Class Society Expands R&D Initiatives with New Energy Technology Center in Korea Leading classification society ABS is further strengthening its ties to the Korean maritime industry by establishing the ABS Korea Energy Technology Center (KETC) in Busan in early 2012. This is ABS' first energy center and will focus on applied research to a broad range of current and future technology challenges. In a related move, the society is creating the role of Vice President of Global Korean Technology Development.Dr. Hoseong Lee, a veteran of ABS and respected professional in the Korean maritime industry is being appointed to this new position. As part of his new responsibilities, Dr. Lee will provide guidance and oversight for the KETC. In combination, these strategic developments will better leverage the technology resources of ABS in servicing the Korean market and its clients across the globe.Under Dr. Lee's stewardship, the KETC will work in partnership with local universities, shipyards and other organizations to undertake research activities drawing upon the knowledge and experience of ABS engineering and survey staff worldwide. Priority areas for the center include offshore exploration and production technology, subsea applications, LNG technology, ship energy efficiency and renewable energy.Dr. Lee will also act as ...

LNG is touted as an alternative clean fuel to replace the heavy bunker fuel STX Offshore & Shipbuilding (STX O&S)and Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas) inked a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop a LNG bunkering facility.The two South Korean companies are now conducting research to develop the LNG bunkering facility and a LNG-fueled ship.STX O&S is also actively undertaking research in LNG-related fields, having already developed ultra-large containerships propelled by LNG and LNG FuSion, an LNG fuel supply system.In the wake of rising environmental concerns, LNG is touted as an alternative clean fuel to replace the heavy bunker fuelSource: Seatrade Asia

The industry's excitement might mean anxiety for the local foreign exchange market Korea's shipbuilding industry took back its world leading position during the first half of the year, but there is one sector that might not feel so celebratory - the foreign exchange market.As shipbuilders hedge their recent boom, market watchers are wondering whether increased sales of forward exchange contracts will drive up short-term foreign debt as they have done in the past, while government officials played down concerns.Local shipbuilders locked down orders for 224 ships during the first half of this year, taking more than half the global market in terms of weight, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy."In 2011, we expect Korea's three leading shipbuilders to secure orders worth nearly the record level set in 2007 in terms of won," said Jeon Jae-cheon, an analyst at Daishin Securities.However, the industry's excitement might mean anxiety for the local foreign exchange market.It takes about two to three years between a shipbuilder getting an order and receiving final payment for a ship. Because the payments are made in foreign currency - usually dollars - if the dollar's value falls against the won in the meantime, the shipbuilder will earn less ...

Korea is prepared to invest 20 billion won - completed by 2015 Korea has, as reported by Yonhap news agency, announced plans to set up an unmanned vessel for maritime research and surveillance. The automated vessel is planned to be completed in 2015 and Korea is prepared to invest 20 billion won.The vessel, developed by a cooperation between the Korean Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs and the Korea Ocean Research & Development Institute, is expected to help the nation conduct maritime research and monitor its coast for illegal fishing or accidents.The Yonhap report mentions that an initial investment of 13.5 billion won is required. This is supposed to cover the design and development of a remote control system and other core technologies such as autonomous navigation, which is to be completed by 2013. Another 6.5 billion won will be used for test runs and commercialisation in 2015.It is further understood that the vessel will be able to travel at a speed of up to 90 kilometres per hour within a remote-controlled radius of 16 kilometres and avoid collisions with other vessels or obstacles.Source: Digital Ship

Due to strong imports from China South Korea's Busan container port, the world's fifth busiest, expects to handle around 15 percent more cargo this year than last due to strong imports from China and regional transhipments, a port executive said on Tuesday.Increased activity at South Korea's main port, however, was likely to soften next year because of slower global economic growth, said Boowon Kang, head of operations at Busan Port Authority ."We are seeing double-digit growth easily. Data from January to April shows that transhipments and imports are increasing a lot," he told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference."This means the economy is recovering from the global recession as they need materials and parts."The Busan port was expected to handle more than 15 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) this year, up from 13 million last year and 12 million in 2009.Kang declined to provide a forecast for 2012, but said growth would not be as strong.South Korea's central bank raised interest rates on Friday for the third time this year, surprising financial markets, as the government warned of rising inflation risks even as growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy cools.Source: Reuters

Prices in Asia for LNG have reached their highest as Japan and China buy more The world's second-largest LNG importer South Korea may buy gas from North America, Australia and Russia to diversify supply and plans to raise power prices to slow domestic demand growth, the Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Joong-kyung said on Tuesday.Prices in Asia for liquefied natural gas (LNG) have reached their highest this year as Japan and China buy more. Top LNG importer Japan has boosted imports to feed gas plants running hard to compensate for lost power from nuclear reactors shut after the March earthquake and tsunami."To cope with any worsening global market conditions in the wake of strengthening safety (standards) and delays in construction of nuclear power, we are preparing long-term measures to secure LNG," Choi told the Reuters Energy and Climate Summit in an email response to questions."We are considering various import sources such as North America, Australia and Russia to diversify import sources from the Middle East and southeast Asian regions that we heavily depend on, although no specific sources are yet set."TO HIKE ELECTRICITY RATES "STEP BY STEP"Despite the risk of adding to inflationary pressures, Asia's fourth-largest economy plans to slowly increase ...

Shipbuilding crisis has already lasted over two and half years Just following the shipping crisis which started in the second half of 2008, the shipbuilding crisis has already lasted over two and half years, reaching the stage that all traditional small and medium-sized (SM) Korean shipbuilders who have played an important part of Korean shipbuilding industries for the past 20 years may fall to extinction in future, some argue.Mainly late comers in Korean shipbuilding industry including C& Heavy Industries, Jinse Shipbuilding, Orient Shipbuilding, TKS Heavy Industries and others had collapsed up to the last year without giving any big sense of crisis to other remaining SM shipbuilders here.But the worries of Korean shipbuilders are gradually mounting with the latest downfalls of several old SM Korean shipbuilding hands as follows. Dae Sun Shipbuilding (DSS) with long tradition and experiences of shipbuilding, located at Yeongdo-gu, Busan, has been delisted by KOSDAQ last March this year with its capital impaired totally. Sekwang Heavy Industries (SHI), a SM Korean shipbuilder specialized in building chemical carriers, filed for the court receivership last April followed by Samho Shipbuilding (SS) that went bankrupt failing to honor its payment this May.Besides the above-said Korea shipbuilders, there are several ...