Samsung to enter cruiseship market

Samsung Heavy Industries’ vice-president Park Jung-heum said at a recent strategy seminar, “We will secure a cruiseship newbuilding order within next three years and deliver it around 2015. We will make inroads into the cruiseship sector by transferring foreign technologies into Korea and adding construction concept to it.”

Park went on to say “Newbuildings of around 170m gt were ordered in 2007 but due to economic downturn, 25% of over-supply is expected until next year. Chinese shipyards and Korean small- and medium-sized yards, which had expanded their facilities at that time, should embark on developing new types of vessels.”

He said future ships would have to play the role of ?Ocean Developer? and yards should develop next generation ships such as seawater desalination vessel, radioactive waste handling vessel and garbage incineration/disposal vessel. He explained that South Korean yards were able to lead the global shipbuilding market as they accelerated development of next generation vessels since the 1990s in competition with Japanese rivals.

According to Park, new vessels such as FPSO, drillship and arctic shuttle tanker are those that made South Korean shipbuilders become the world?s No. 1. He stressed, “We will carve out our own future by focusing on LNG-FPSO and cruiseship which is an emerging niche market.”

He said China is not yet entering cruiseship sector and the market has a huge potential and could grow four times larger. He added, “Research & Development is important for business expansion. But we will rather focus on ?Connect & Develop? activities by connecting various businesses including electronics, machinery, construction, etc.”