EU’s Review of Marriage with DSME Being Delayed
Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), an intermediate holding company in charge of the shipbuilding business of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, attained 94 percent of its order target for 2021 as of July 2. Accordingly, the shipbuilder is highly likely to exceed this year’s order goal.
KSOE has recently signed contracts with five overseas shipping companies to build two 53,000-ton electric passenger ships (RO-PAX ships), two 86,000-cubic-meters super-sized LPG carriers, two 2,800-TEU container ships, one 2,100-TEU methanol-powered container ship and three 1,800-TEU container ships.
KSOE also announced on the same day that it has signed a contract with a shipping company based in Liberia to build one LNG carrier for 215.5 billion won. As a result, KSOE won orders for 159 ships (US$14 billion) as of the day, attaining 94 percent of its annual order target of US$14.9 billion.
However, it faces with many problems to solve. For instance, its subsidiary Hyundai Heavy Industries is faced labor-management conflicts. The company has failed to hammer out an agreement with its union on wage and collective bargaining. The labor union has elevated the level of its struggle by deciding to go on a full strike from July 7 to 9.
On top of that, the EU’s review of the merger between Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) is also a burden. KSOE announced on June 30 that the deadline for a decision to acquire DSME shares and investment securities which it signed with Korea Development Bank (KDB) will be changed from June 30 to Sept. 30.