Korean shipbuilding musical chairs has set the rumour mill into overdrive.
Seoul’s ambition to streamline the number of shipbuilders in the nation to make them more profitable. Following Samsung Heavy Industries taking over management of Sungdong Shipbuilding, local media has linked both Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) with running STX Offshore & Shipbuilding.
DSME’s dire financial troubles will likely preclude it from taking on the distraction of managing STX however.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy of Korea (MOTIE) has come out to deny reports it favours HHI taking control of STX.
STX, with yards at home and overseas, is one of Korea’s largest shipbuilding groups.
Last week South Korea’s minister of oceans and fisheries, Yoo Ki-June, hinted at further consolidation among the nation’s shipyards while attending the Danish Maritime Forum in Copenhagen.
