JE Ocean Heavy Industries, which is pushing ahead with the acquisition process for the Gunsan Shipyard, recently signed a letter of intent for shipbuilding with a shipowner in the Oceania region.
On the 29th, JE Ocean Heavy Industries said it signed a letter of intent (LOI) with a shipowning company in Oceania for four 114,000-ton (t) tankers.
The vessels are 114,000 t-class crude oil and oil product carriers developed by HJ Shipbuilding & Construction. JE Ocean Heavy Industries explained that the ships are designed to carry not only crude oil but also a variety of petroleum products.
The signing of this letter of intent came about roughly nine years after completed ship production at the Gunsan Shipyard stopped in Jul. 2017.
After HD Hyundai Heavy Industries delivered a 114,000 t-class product tanker in 2017, the Gunsan Shipyard halted construction of completed ships and has since been operated as a ship block production plant.
Then, on the 26th of this month, JE Ocean Heavy Industries, established by Eco Prime Marine Pacific, the largest shareholder of HJ Shipbuilding & Construction, signed a main contract with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries for the transfer of Gunsan Shipyard asset.
A JE Ocean Heavy Industries official said, "Since Eco Prime Marine Pacific and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) in Mar., inquiries about construction have continued," and added, "There is currently no backlog of completed ship orders at the Gunsan Shipyard, so delivery times are fast, and it is capable of building ultra-large vessels, drawing strong interest from global shipping companies."
The official added, "We will grow the Gunsan Shipyard into a core base for global eco-friendly ship production and contribute to the regional economy and the development of Korea's shipbuilding industry."