South Korea is coming up with cash to support shipowners hit by the effects of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak in China.
The Yonhap news agency cited finance minister Hong Nam-ki as saying on Monday that the government will set up a fund of KRW 60bn ($51m) to help support the domestic industry.
South Korea has reported 29 confirmed cases of the virus so far, with nine patients fully recovered from the illness.
The state is also providing $253.5m in emergency loans to local budget airlines, as well as help for tourism companies.
TradeWinds has reported that shipyards in Japan and South Korea using Chinese-made equipment and steel plates are feeling the effects of the outbreak.
But there was no word on specific help for shipbuilders.
Industry observers believe yards such as Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and DSME will be impacted more by coronavirus since large numbers of their ships’ hull blocks are imported from their affiliate shipyards — SHI Ningbo and DSME Shandong, respectively, in China.
But an SHI spokesman said: “The blocks supplied from Ningbo shipyard to Geoje are no more than 200,000 tonnes per year and shipbuilding generally requires a long production period.
"As most of the blocks produced at Ningbo are composed of parts that barely affect delivery schedule, we expect the impact by temporary closure will be limited."
