STX Yard Hits the Road Early

Shipbuilder grabs order for 10 container vessels with option for 10 more worth 3 tln won

STX Offshore and Shipbuilding has clinched an order for 10 container ships from Seaspan Container Shipping Co. of Canada by signing a letter of intent recently with an option for 10 additional containers, which are worth some 3 trillion won with each ship valued at $140 million, the company said recently.
Each container ship is 14,000 TEU in size, 310 meters long and 45 meters wide －about the size of three football fields. The news boosted the share price of the shipbuilder by 8.1 percent to 29,800 won per share on April 25, along with share prices of other shipbuilding firms including Daewoo Shipbuilding and Samsung Heavy Industries.
In the meantime, the shipyard recently got an order for three ethylene carriers in the 6,500 CBM (cubic meter) class from a European shipping firm, which ordered three of the same kind of ships earlier in February, each valued at $930 million, to be delivered starting in June 2012 in three-month intervals.
The chemical tanker is 113 meters long and 19.2 meters wide and can cruise at a maximum speed of 14.9 knots per hour and can also carry LPG if necessary, the company said.
The company said it expects to get more such orders as demand for petrochemical products increases worldwide and producers in Australia and the Middle East have expanded production facilities for petrochemical products (ethylene and LNG) to meet the rising demand.
The company, therefore, has been in contact with major chemical transport companies around the world to secure additional orders for petrochemical product tankers in various sizes.
STX Shipbuilding has also been in contact with the European shipping firm that ordered six petrochemical tankers and expects to get additional orders as the demand for petrochemical products rises around the world. Officials said STX Yard will go after various sizes of petrochemical tankers, especially medium-sized ones built with special technologies, and its marketing will be directed at shipping firms that are set to order new petrochemical carriers as well as previous customers to expand its order bookings.
STX Shipbuilding got an order for two shuttle tankers worth $200 million from Greek ship owner European Navigation recently, each weighing 155,000 DTW with an option for two more similar tankers, the company said recently. Each Suezmax class tanker is 278.3 meters long and 23.6 meters wide and will be built at the company's Jinhae yard for delivery in 2013.
The owner will charter the two tankers to carry crude oil from the sea off Brazil to Petrobras, the Brazilian national oil company, as the tanker will be equipped with the dynamic positioning system using the Azimuth Thruster to keep it in a stable position when loading it with crude oil at offshore oil fields, the company said.
European Navigation Co. is a ship chartering firm dealing with such major oil firms as BP, Shell and Exxon, and the company's order this time is the first one for a Korean shipbuilder.
Shuttle tankers are connected to offshore natural resources exploration projects with high value-added portions and STX Shipbuilding will carry on with its strategy to go for various ships for offshore natural resources projects creating synergy with its shipyards in Dairen, China, and STX Europe, including offshore structure, shuttle tankers and offshore natural resources support ships and other vessels related to offshore natural resources exploration projects.
STX Shipbuilding's vision is to be a top company in the field, building large-sized vessels and high value-added ships, cruise vessels, special-purpose vessels and offshore facilities, among others. The company envisions itself among the top in all areas of shipbuilding through expanded R&D activities, building a high-tech technology-intensive structure and developing self-supporting technology for sustainable operation and social obligation, increasing global production bases, and constructing a global management system, along with the top position in shipbuilding tonnage, sales, order backlog and products in the industry. nw