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HONG
KONG—Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s largest
shipbuilder, won a contract from A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S
to build 18 container vessels worth at least $1.2
billion for use on African trade routes.
Hyundai
Heavy will make 13 vessels for Copenhagen-based Maersk
that can each move 4,500 20-foot containers for 1.22
trillion won ($1.2 billion), according to a statement
from the Ulsan, South Korea-based shipbuilder Wednesday.
The company’s Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. unit
will build another five container ships, the statement
said, without providing a price.
South
Korean shipyards may win record orders for a sixth year
as delivery delays in China and a lack of engines prompt
shipping lines to lock contracts with the world’s
biggest shipbuilders. Samsung Heavy Industries Co.
yesterday received an order for a deep-water drill ship
and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. will
build three oil tankers for an unidentified European
customer.
“With
delivery delays becoming a big issue, we will probably
see more shipping lines ordering vessels from Koreans
that have a good track record of early deliveries,” said
Lee Jae Won, an analyst at Tong Yang Investment Bank in
Seoul. He has “buy” recommendations on Hyundai Heavy,
Samsung Heavy and Daewoo Shipbuilding.
Maersk,
the world’s largest shipping line, plans to use the new
vessels to carry cargo to and from Africa, where trade
volume has almost doubled since 2002. The new ships will
replace older models as well as reduce fuel consumption
through new heat waste-recovery technology.
Hyundai
Heavy said it expects to receive a record $16.7 billion
of shipbuilding orders for the six months ending June.
Yesterday’s order is the company’s biggest contract for
that type of carrier in more than four months.
Samsung
Heavy, the world’s second-largest shipbuilder, received
an order to build a deep-water drill ship for 701.8
billion won for an unidentified US customer.
Daewoo
Shipbuilding, the world’s third-largest shipbuilder,
received a contract from Europe to build three
320,000-deadweight-ton oil tankers for 480.6 billion
won.
Hyundai
Samho is the world’s fifth-largest shipbuilder.
Hyundai
Heavy last month received about 1.2 billion won in
bonuses in the first five months from clients for
delivering vessels at an average of about two months
ahead of schedule. The shipbuilder handed over a tanker
to an Indian client more than seven months earlier than
promised.
Chinese
shipbuilders probably delayed about 45 percent of their
deliveries at the end of last month, due partly to a
shortage of components, Lee Jae Kyu, an analyst at Mirae
Asset Securities Co., said in a June 17 note. That
compares with the 25-percent delay rate in 2007, he
said.
Hyundai
Heavy, Doosan Engine Co. and STX Group, the world’s
three biggest ship-engine makers, supply almost all of
their gear to South Korean shipyards before selling them
overseas.
South
Korean shipyards are also developing new technology that
will reduce fuel costs, making them more attractive to
shipping lines.
Hyundai
Heavy says its thrust fins installed behind propellers
can save about $2.4 million in costs a year. Daewoo
Shipbuilding’s preswirl stator, which helps reduce drag,
can help cut fuel costs by about $100,000 a month.
The
price of bunker fuel rose to a record $651.50 per metric
ton Tuesday in Singapore, according to Bloomberg data.
Hyundai
Heavy, Samsung Heavy and Daewoo Shipbuilding have won a
combined $31 billion in orders so far this year,
including Wednesday’s deals. At the end of May, their
backlogs reached $122 billion, representing almost four
years of work. (Bloomberg) |
