SEOUL, KOREA - Hanjin Heavy Industries is set to make its first foray into the VLCC (very large crude carrier) market. The company announced on April 9 that its overseas unit Subic Shipyard won US$800-million orders for a total of six VLCCs, consisting of four 300,000-ton VLCCs from Navig8 of the UK and two same-spec VLCCs from other European shipowner.
In addition, the Subic Shipyard also signed a deal to build two 11,000-TEU containerships with another European shipowner. All these ships will be appointed with eco-friendly designs, thereby having higher fuel efficiency.
Thus far, Hanjin Heavy Industries has stayed out of the VLCC business due to the limited land space of its Youngdo Shipyard in Busan. This is the first time for Hanjin Heavy to receive a VLCC order since it completed the construction of the Subic Shipyard in 2009 which is armed with a variety of state-of-the-art facilities and docks.
Each of the 300,000-ton ships will have a length of 333 meters, a width of 60 meters and a depth of 30 meters, with a service speed of 15 knots. These ships are slated for delivery between the second half of 2016 and the second half of 2017.