Sungdong Shipbuilding Wins Bid for 4 Bulk Carriers

South Korea’s Sungdong Shipbuilding said Thursday that it successfully won a bid for four Kamsarmax-class (82,000 tons) bulk carriers from a European shipping company. The bulk carriers, the biggest size which can enter the port Kamsar in Guinea Africa, will be delivered by the first half of 2012. This particular mid-sized vessel is now gaining the market’s attention with its price competitiveness and thus, other South Korea’s shipbuilders such as Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME), Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and STX Offshore & Shipbuilding actively participate in bidding for this type of vessels.
Sungdong Shipbuilding is making the first contract with the European ship owner specialized in bulk carrier ships with three units of Supramax and two units currently under construction.
A source from Sungdong Shipbuilding said that "The European ship owner had put several other shipbuilders under consideration but the company finalized its decision to make contract with us after conducting a survey on our facilities and the size of the shipyard."
This year alone, Sungdong Shipbuilding has received new orders of 18 bulk carriers comprised of eight Capesize bulk carriers, one post-Panamax carrier and nine Kamsarmax bulk carriers including this contract with the European ship owner.