China to overtake Korea

It will be the first time that Korea, home to seven of the world’s top 10 shipyards, will have lost the No. 1 slot since 2003, when it finished behind Japan. According to London-based Clarkson Research Services, the total completed shipbuilding volume of Korean shipyards stood at 13.36 million compensated gross tons in the first 10 months of the year compared to China’s 14.8 million cgt.

The market share of Korea and China is 31.8% and 35.3% respectively. Korean shipbuilders also fell behind their Chinese counterparts in the number of new orders won during the 10-month period. Korean firms won a combined 9.81 million cgt of orders, which accounted for 37.9% of the global total, while their Chinese rivals clinched 11.7 million cgt which took up 45.3% of the world’s total.