Two South Korean shipyard giants are said to be joining forces in a unique collaboration to build a series of container ships for Evergreen Marine.
Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, will supply ship blocks to Samsung Heavy Industries from 2026, shipbuilding sources said.
They described the deal as a “win-win” for the companies, adding that it is the first time two major South Korean shipbuilders have partnered in this way.
The blocks are for the 16 methanol dual-fuel 16,000-teu vessels Evergreen ordered at SHI last June. They are slated for delivery in 2026 and 2027.
Local news agencies reported the value of the contract as about KRW 50bn ($38.5m).
The deal is being driven by a supply crunch of hull blocks due to a shortage of domestic shipyard workers and block makers.
Hanwha has the capacity, as it signed contracts for only 10 newbuildings last year — five LNG carriers and five very large ammonia carriers.
One shipbuilding analyst said: “The last container ship newbuilding project that Hanwha inked was in 2022, and the last boxship is slated to deliver at the end of 2025. Building the blocks for SHI allows Hanwha to continue with the container ship production line.”
As for Samsung, it helps to resolve supply problems and enables it to expand its capacity.
Samsung has previously looked to China to solve its ship block supply shortage.
Tapping China
Last year, the Koje-based shipbuilder hired China’s Hengli Heavy Industry and Zhoushan CIMC Chang Hong Shipbuilding to supply large hull blocks to help resolve a looming labour shortage.
Hengli will be constructing hull blocks for 20 container ship newbuildings of 15,000 teu, which Evergreen Marine commissioned SHI to build in 2021. Delivery is due between 2023 and 2025.
Chang Hong Shipbuilding will supply hull blocks until early 2025.
According to Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network, SHI’s orderbook stands at 144. Its forward orderbook is full until 2029 for LNG carriers. Hanwha Ocean has 125 newbuildings.
