The four dual-fuel container ships ordered by Taiwan-based shipping company Wan Hai Lines from HD Hyundai Samho in 2024 will be delivered six months ahead of schedule.
HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) recently announced that the delivery time of four 8,700TEU methanol dual-fuel container ships undertaken by its shipbuilding subsidiary HD Hyundai Samho in September 2024 will be delivered about 6 months of schedule.
According to analysis, these four container ships were ordered by Wan Hai Lines, with a total value of 674.6 billion won (511.3 million U.S. dollars), and the cost of each ship is about 127.8 million U.S. dollars. According to the contract, the original delivery date was May 15, 2027, but due to the shortened construction period, it has been brought forward to November 30, 2026, about 6 months ahead of schedule.
A person related to HD Hyundai explained: “This announcement is due to the early delivery. The speed of launching of ships has increased this year, which has greatly advanced the construction period.”
HD Hyundai Samho’s introduction of a large number of automated robots into the shipyard is also one of the important factors in improving shipbuilding efficiency. Currently, HD Hyundai Samho operates about 80 robots and has established an efficient system where one operator can manage up to 6 robots at the same time, which helps reduce labor intensity and improve production efficiency.
In addition to delivering the ships ahead of schedule, HD Hyundai Samho was also named “the most profitable shipyard in South Korea” by Korean media. In the first quarter of this year, HD Hyundai Samho achieved consolidated revenue of 1.9664 trillion won (about 1.429 billion U.S. dollars) and operating profit of 365.9 billion won (about 266 million U.S. dollars), an increase of 15.3% and 96.3% respectively over the same period last year.
In particular, HD Hyundai Samho’s operating profit margin in the first quarter of this year reached 18.6%, an increase of 7.7 percentage points from the same period last year. This achievement is considered unusual because the shipbuilding industry is a manufacturing industry and its operating profit margin is usually difficult to exceed 10%.