The rump of the once mighty STX empire continues to be hived off. Goseong Offshore & Shipbuilding, a Korean yard that was part of STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, is set to be taken over by a joint venture involving Samkang M&T and local asset manager UAMCO.
Samkang, previously a block builder, won its first ship orders last year. Samkang has said Geseong will be transformed into a ship repair facility targeting larger ships.
Goseong, founded in 1978, was taken over in 2011 by STX, just ahead of the conglomerate entering financial difficulties.
The yard has a floating dry dock with a length of 430 m. Under STX, the yard focused on building crude tankers and boxships.
Other parts of the STX yard empire have been on the chopping block for a long time, including its facilities in France and in Dalian in northeast China. STX’s sole shipyard going forward is its original base in Jinhae in the south of South Korea, a yard that was formerly known as Daedong Shipbuilding before being bought out by tycoon Kang Duk-soo in 2001. Kang was arrested on graft charges a couple of years ago as the sprawling STX conglomerate imploded.
