The strong demand for new container ships and high freight rates have led Hanjin Heavy Industries to rejoin the commercial shipbuilding market after six years of inactivity in the sector.
The South Korean shipbuilding company, which was taken over last April by a consortium led by Dongbu Corp, has in fact announced that it has secured an order for the construction of four 5,500 TEU ships worth around $270 million. Delivery is scheduled for November 2023.
The shipyard hadn’t been building containerships since 2015, having decided, due to a sustained downturn in the market, to focus solely on military and specialized vessels.
The total orderbook for new containerships stood at 5.6 million TEUs at the end of the third quarter, up 185% year-on-year.
The sheer volume of business has had a trickle-down effect from larger yards to smaller ones, which are going for profits they never dreamt of making before now.
Translation by Giles Foster
