In September, global shipbuilding orders reached 480,000 CGTs, with Korea and China accounting for 230,000 CGTs and 240,000 CGTs, respectively, the British shipbuilding and shipping industry analysis company Clarkson Research announced on Oct. 6. However, many of the orders issued by shipbuilders from the two countries at the end of September were not included in the figures.

Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard won two Suezmax and one MR tanker at the end of September, respectively. Korea's order intake rises to 340,000 CGTs when these deals are introduced. China's COSCO won two Aframax tankers (50,000 CGTs) at the end of September. China's September orders will increase to 290,000 CGTs if this offer is counted.

In terms of order intake, Korea ranked first in the third quarter of this year with 1,42 million CGTs, representing 45 % of the total global shipbuilding orders of 3,19 million CGTs over the period. With 860,000 CGTs, Russia came in second (27 percent), followed by China with 830,000 CGTs (26 percent).

In the January-September period, however, China reported 4.83 million CGTs (50 per cent), well ahead of Korea's 2.62 million CGTs (27 per cent).

While Korean shipbuilders remained in the top spot for three consecutive months, the spread of the COVID-19 virus continued to lead to a shipbuilding slump. From January to September, global shipbuilding orders amounted to 9.75 million CGTs, which is just half of the 20.03 million CGTs registered during the same period in 2019.

Maritime Business World