Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world’s largest shipbuilder, is the latest big name being linked to taking over the financially troubled Philippine subsidiary of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction.
HHIC-Phil sought court rehabilitation last month, becoming one of the biggest corporate failures in the history of the Philippines. The shipyard, based in Subic Bay to the north of the capital, Manila, is the largest shipbuilding facility in Southeast Asia.
The Philippine government has sought out shipbuilders in China, Japan, South Korea, Europe, Australia and the US to take over the site, and has also considered the possibility of nationalising HHIC-Phil.
Defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana said yesterday HHI was the latest yard to have eyed HHIC-Phil.
However, HHI is potentially going to have its hands full working on another major shipyard consolidation project. Last week, HHI was given a provisional green light by state-run Korea Development Bank to take over the world’s second largest shipyard, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).
Very good set up. Very poorly managed. Again.
Indeed so. Happens all the time.
It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that “the book” on how to design and lay out a modern merchant ship building yard was written by the late James Venus and his consultancy, A&P Appledore, from plate receiving through to the building dock including the use of CAD/CAM, and rather few of the shipyards laid out on his principles ever really managed to make full use of what they had. If the managers don’t understand it, the work force are unlikely to do so…