HJ Shipbuilding & Construction (HJSC) announced today it started to operate its hull-block manufacturing plant.
With the expansion of production capacity, the global shipbuilder is now anticipated to handle orders which have recently increased after the resumption of commercial vessel business more easily.
The South Korean shipbuilding company won an order for 4 container carriers last year and successfully reentered the merchant vessel market. In fact, it had not received any order since 2016 in this commercial ship market. This year, the leading domestic shipbuilder won additional orders for 4 ships, increasing the total contract amount to nearly KRW 660 billion (8 vessels in total).
Because of such successful orders, Yeongdo Shipyard has exceeded its capacity. In general, a shipyard requires a vast site to produce and store hull blocks. However, the 80,000㎡–large Yeongdo Shipyard was not spacious enough to handle hull blocks which are needed in building merchant ships as well as war vessels and special-purpose ships.
Dadaepo Plant (Busan) and Yuldo Plant (Incheon) which had been run by HJSC were sold in 2017 according to creditors’ financial structure improvement policy. Therefore, the multinational shipbuilder has thoroughly searched for a perfect site for a satellite plant from Busan to the outskirts. Because of the geographical features of Busan, however, coastal areas and candidate sites have mostly been used as port land or tourist attractions. Therefore, HJSC had to turn its eyes to Geoje where other hull block plants and shipbuilding equipment manufacturers are gathered.
After a complete and thorough review over months, HJSC chose Geoje Industrial Complex (Obi-ri, Yeoncho-myeon, Geoje-si) for its new plant. This site is adjacent to Hanne Industrial Complex, Hanne Shipbuilding-Specialized Agro-Industrial Complex and Mosa Industrial Complex and also close to large shipyards and downtown, making it easy to get various materials and workforce.
Above all, since hull blocks have been produced and distributed from these sites, HJSC can build required hull block-manufacturing facilities (e.g., assembly line, painting line, attached facilities, crane, substation, etc.) at the lowest costs.
An official from the HJSC said, “After the resumption of commercial vessel business last year, there has been a strong need for a satellite plant for stable production and distribution.” He continued, “We believe that Geoje Plant would increase sales in shipbuilding and play a key role in helping us normalize our business and take a leap into the future.”
