A ceremony to partially reopen Hyundai Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Gunsan, 179 km southwest of Seoul, took place today, with prime minister Han Duck-soo in attendance.
Some 750 workers have been hired and the yard will focus on block building.
HHI began to build its Gusan yard in May 2008 at the peak of the last supercycle in shipping to go alongside other yards in the HHI empire including Hyundai Mipo and Hyundai Samho. By the time it was completed the following summer, however, the markets were in post-Lehman shock. The yard was eventually shuttered in 2017.
The Gunsan yard is enormous; spread over 1.8m sq m and features one of the world’s largest drydocks, some 700 m long with a 1,600 ton crane.
“The restart of the Gunsan shipyard will further increase our overwhelming global share of high value-added and eco-friendly ships,” prime minister Han said.
