April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Heavy Industries said on June 22 it will suspend work at its offshore facilities shipyard in August as orders have dried up, marking the latest setback for the world‘s biggest shipbuilder.

“We will halt operations till we secure offshore orders,” HHI President and CEO Kang Hwan-goo said in a statement.

HHI has two major shipyards in the industrial city of Ulsan, about 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul. One is to build commercial vessels, such as container carriers and liquefied natural gas tankers, and the other is to build high-end offshore facilities, such as floating production storage and offloading units.

The shipbuilder has has lost out to Chinese and Singaporean rivals in offshore projects in recent years due to higher costs.

“At this time, we will streamline our organizational resources and create a strategic team to win new orders, which will eventually enable us to offer better services to our clients,” said Yune Sung-il, head of Offshore Marketing Division at HHI.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)