Samsung going for bulkers

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) may resume building bulkers after a break of 10 years . SHI was among the shipbuilders who submitted tenders in connection with a project by India’s Reliance Group to procure 6 to 10 200,000-dwt class bulker newbuildings.

The other shipbuilders included Daewoo (DSME), STX Shipbuilding and Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction. It looks unclear at this stage whether SHI will be awarded a deal by Reliance. The report quoted a Korean industry official as saying, “It may be that SHI has simply responded to the inquiry made by Reliance.” However, it looks certain that it is seriously considering re-entering the bulker market.

SHI has not built a bulker since it won an order from BHP Billiton for a Capesize in 1999. Bulkers have been virtually excluded from its marketing campaign for the last 10 years. Even if its latest bid is nominal, its move may cause ripples across the Korean shipbuilding industry.

It is believed that some emerging Korean yards and Chinese yards have also made their bids for possible deals with Reliance, which wants the bulkers to be delivered by 2012. Japanese yards may find it difficult to join the race as they have few vacant building slots that can meet the delivery dates.

Among major Korean shipbuilders, SHI is particularly known to be keen on value-added vessels. It was the first among them to declare its policy to enter the passenger ship market. In the past decade, SHI has focused on gas carriers, containerships and offshore structures. It has combined them with large-size tankers in its marketing activities. In the tanker business, it has put greater emphasis on value-added products, such as ice-class vessels and product carriers. It has stayed away from other ship types as Hyundai Heavy Industries, DSME and other Korean yards amassed their orders for bulkers and car carriers.