South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries has expanded its shipbuilding capacity further by enlisting China’s Hengli Heavy Industries — formerly STX Dalian Shipbuilding — to build large hull blocks and help to resolve a looming labour shortage.
Shipbuilding sources said Hengli will be constructing hull blocks for Evergreen Marine’s 20 container ship newbuildings of 15,000 teu, which the liner company commissioned SHI to build in 2021. Delivery is slated between this year and 2025.
The Dalian-based shipbuilder is the second Chinese yard to have been enlisted by SHI to help build new ships. The first was Zhoushan CIMC Chang Hong Shipbuilding.
Hengli recently held a steel-cutting ceremony, which was attended by top management from Hengli and SHI.
“The event marked Hengli’s official entry into building large-size container ships,” a shipbuilding broker said.
The total volume of hull blocks that Hengli will be manufacturing for SHI was not disclosed but industry sources said the sub-contracted work will be carried out in large batches and will involve processing almost 70,000 tonnes of steel.
Local media agencies reported that Hengli will be using the SHI-developed “tera-block” method. The system will allow the South Korean yard to assemble a vessel with just two large hull blocks.
“It’s a win-win situation for Samsung and Hengli,” one shipbuilding expert said.
“Samsung can expand its shipbuilding capacity and at the same time ease the labour shortage issues that it is facing at Koje shipyard, while the sub-let contract enables Hengli to advance its shipbuilding production.”
SHI will be sending some of its expertise to Hengli for quality assurance.
Hengli entered the shipbuilding market last year, when its parent Hengli Group — a private petrochemical company — paid CNY 1.73bn ($256m) to acquire STX Dalian.
The shipyard is building two 61,000-dwt and four 20,000-dwt bulk carriers for the group company.
It only landed its first newbuilding contract from a third-party company early this month, when domestic owner Fortune Ocean Shipping ordered four kamsarmax bulkers.
In March, SHI collaborated with CIMC Chang Hong, with the latter supplying container ship hull blocks until 2024.
Besides building the hull blocks, SHI together with CIMC Chang Hong and Seaspan Corp reached a tripartite framework agreement that may see the Chinese shipyard building complete vessels for the South Korean shipbuilder.
