Since the war between the United States and Iran, some shipowners, busy managing vessels in waters near the Middle East, have been skipping ship-naming ceremonies. A ship-naming ceremony is an event held to give a name to a vessel completed at a shipyard and to celebrate its first official departure.
According to the shipbuilding industry on the 11th, a Greek shipowner recently notified domestic shipbuilder A that it would not attend the ship-naming ceremony, saying it had many urgent situations to manage involving its vessels due to the war between the United States and Iran.
The naming ceremony for this vessel was set early this year to be held this month. About 10 senior executives, including the shipping company's president, were to attend. In the past, shipbuilder A and this shipping company held naming ceremonies for newbuilds several times.
A shipbuilding industry official said, "Among shipping companies, those that place many tanker orders are particularly affected by the U.S.-Iran war," adding, "I heard manager-level officials canceled attendance at the naming ceremony because their workload related to vessels in the Middle East increased." With the recent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, shipping companies have seen a surge in work, from crew safety issues to route management and insurance.
Some are also changing schedules due to flight cancellations. Another shipping company that was set to visit shipbuilder B this month to attend a newbuild naming ceremony reportedly requested a change to the event schedule after the flight it planned to take was canceled. With some countries closing their airspace due to the war, route changes and flight cancellations have followed, and this was affected.
Ship-naming ceremonies are held only for specific vessels at the request of the shipowner, and for large vessels, the president and the shipbuilder's chief executive sometimes attend.
In Aug. last year, President Lee Jae-myung and Kim Dong-Kwan, vice chairman of Hanwha Group, attended the naming ceremony for a national security multipurpose vessel at Hanwha Philly Shipyard Inc. in Philadelphia, the United States. In 2021, President Moon Jae-in attended the naming ceremony for the Mozambique floating liquefied natural gas production facility (FLNG) held at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoje, South Gyeongsang.
Because the vessel is worth hundreds of billions of won, the shipowner, owner family, and employees take part in a variety of events. To herald the birth of a newbuild, they cut a rope with an axe, board the vessel to inspect the facilities, and sound the ship's horn to announce departure. A "champagne breaking," in which a bottle is thrown against the hull to wish for the vessel's safety and safe operation, is also held at most naming ceremonies.
A shipbuilder official said, "During the COVID-19 pandemic, we once held naming ceremonies via remote video platforms," adding, "So far, there are no signs that this war is delaying vessel handovers."
Meanwhile, according to Clarksons Research, domestic shipbuilders delivered a total of 11 vessels to Middle Eastern shipping companies last year. By country, 16 vessels ordered by the Middle East are scheduled for delivery this year: the United Arab Emirates (six), Oman (four), Israel (two), and Qatar (four). Next year, orders are expected to surge due to the Qatar LNG project and other factors, pushing scheduled deliveries to 26 vessels.