S. Korea’s Big 3 Shipbuilders Enhance Offshore Plant Business

South Korea’s three major shipbuilders, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), are spurring their efforts to enhance

the offshore plant business. Such move comes as the offshore plant business is suddenly rising as a profitable business in relation to resource development, which is more promising than the general shipbuilding business that is centered on container ships. As major oil developers rush to place orders for offshore plants, the big three Korean shipbuilders have strengthened conditions for their offshore plant business.
HHI is expanding facilities for building offshore plants, while SHI are enhancing functions of the research and development (R&D) sector. DSME is pushing for merger and acquisition (M&A) of a boiler manufacturer.
According to HHI on Monday, the company is currently extending the gate of the offshore plant dock, named H-Dock. The extension work started from last month and is slated for completion in next September. The company’s offshore plant dock is the only dock in the world to build floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facilities which are so-called ‘oil refinery floating on the sea.’ The H-Dock measures 490 meters in length, 115 meters in width and 13.5 meters in height. It was completed in April, 2009 with an injection of 161 billion won ($151.74 million).
SHI plans to reinforce the R&D sector of the offshore plant business. The company, reportedly, is going to use the land in Techno Valleey in Pangyo, Gyeonggi, which was purchased by the company in March to build a specialized R&D center for offshore plants.
DSME has a strategy to foster the offshore business by acquiring Daekyung Machinery & Engineering. Daekyung is a boiler maker for plants which posted 20.5 billion won in sales last year. If DSME successfully takes over the boiler maker, great synergy will be created in DSME’s offshore plant business.