Korean Shipyard Celebrates 600th Construction

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard  celebrated having built its 600th ship in 14 years since entering the market when the shipyard completed construction on the milestone vessel -- a 1000-TEU container ship named Sky Hope that will be delivered to CK Line.

Since it was established in 1975, the dockyard had focused mainly on ship repairs until it took a change of course after receiving an order from a Norwegian shipper in 1997 to build a drill ship.

Since then, the shipbuilder has been steadily increasing its production: to four vessels in 1998, eight the following year, and 80 last year. Among the ships produced by the company, petrochemical carriers were the most in-demand with 378 units, followed by container ships (89) and bulk carriers (60). It has also built 26 special orders, such as drill ships.

"This year, we will deliver 80 vessels and we expect to win new contracts amounting to US$3.2 billion, up 60 percent from a year earlier," said a spokesperson for the dockyard.