HD Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding will expand capacity to build 15 ships a year up from the current maximum of 12 with the company’s Korean parent revealing plans to potentially expand further to 23 ships a year by 2030.
The Vietnamese subsidiary of the Hyundai Heavy shipbuilding conglomerate is the largest, most advanced shipyard in Vietnam, a country many are looking to as established Asian shipbuilding nations have maxed out their schedules for the coming three years.
The yard traces its history back to 1996 when it was formed as a repair joint venture with Vietnam’s state-owned shipyard group. It entered the shipbuilding business in 2008, quitting repair work entirely in 2011.
With newbuild prices are at highs not experienced since their peak in 2008, and orders flying in across all the Hyundai yards controlled by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering there has been significant expansion across the group’s Korean facilities.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has moved to acquire a local block manufacturer to speed up vessel construction, while a new berth recently opened at HD Hyundai Samho. The group also reactivated a mothballed yard at Gunsan in 2022.
“The high ordering activity for container and LNG vessels in 2021/22 has exerted even more pressure on shipyard capacity and building periods,” states a recent report from VesselsValue, adding: “Due to the increase in orders, shipyards have held the upper hand in price negotiations and prices have climbed.”
