Rolling In
Tanker ships are increasing their importance as one of the main business items of Korean shipbuilders.
According to industry sources, including Clarkson Research Services, a total of 90 orders for tankers were placed worldwide during the first five months of this year, and 58 of them went to Korean shipbuilders while Chinese and Japanese shipbuilders took 18 and 14, respectively. On a deadweight tonnage (DWT) basis, Korea took nine million DWT to record a market share of 66 percent, which is higher than that for the same period of last year.
In 2014, a total of 303 orders were placed for that type of ship, and Korean shipbuilders obtained 124 of them while their Japanese and Chinese counterparts had to be content with 96 and 83 orders, respectively. Korea’s market share reached 52 percent on a DWT basis and 36 percent on a unit basis.
Experts mention technological strength and fuel economy as two of the reasons for the Korean companies’ excellent performance. “These days, most of the orders for tanker ships come from European shippers,” one of them explained, adding, “What they put first is technological strength, and they regard Korean shipbuilders, which supply high-efficiency and eco-friendly ships, as those perfectly meeting their demands.”