Mangalia delivers first newbuildings

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has delivered the first three vessels built at its Romanian shipyard Daewoo Mangalia. These 69,180 dwt crude oil tankers are the largest-ever built in the Black Sea area and were ordered by LMZ Transoil Shipping Enterprises S.A. of Greece in October 2003.

With design and technological support from DSME, the tankers were built and delivered 40 days earlier than the scheduled date. Daewoo Mangalia is currently building 18 container carriers including a series of four 4,860 TEU vessel for Germany’s NSB Niederelbe.

In a separate development, DSME?s major shareholder, Korea Development Bank, is reportedly not planning to sell the shipbuilder to foreign bidders for national security reasons as the company also builds and repairs Korean naval vessels. “It is technologically difficult to separate or pull down the facilities for defence vessels from the shipyard in Okpo, Goje,” said a bank official. Korea Development Bank chairman Kim Chang-rok recently said that sale of DSME is expected to take place next year after thorough discussions with the government.