Korea’s shipbuilding industry is seeing some signs of recovery after struggling from declining orders during the global recession. Samsung Heavy Industries announced on Tuesday that it won deals worth US$750 million from four European shipmaking firms to build nine oil tankers. Industry sources say Hyundai also could soon receive orders to build vessels for a Greek shipping company. This would be the conglomerate’s first shipbuilding deal since September 2008 due to a drop in global orders and prices. Last month Angola’s state-run oil company Sonangol awarded a deal worth around $340 million to Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. Under the deal the shipmaker will deliver five crude oil carriers to the African country between 2011 and 2013.
But some say that difficulties are expected to lie ahead for the time being until the problem of excess supply of ships is resolved.