The dockyard, on 1.8 million m2 of land in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province at the west coast of Korea, with 1.2 trillion won ($1.18 billion) investment, will be equipped with a number of large facilities including the world's largest dry dock with a length of 700 metres and a 1,600-tonne crane. Completion of the work is scheduled for August 2009.
With this construction, the world's No.1 shipbuilder will have shipyards on all three sides of the Korean Peninsula. It is currently operating shipyards in the southeastern industrial city of Ulsan and Yeongam, South Jeolla Province.
The construction of the first ship at the yard will commence in February 2009 with a completion date in February 2010. HHI has already secured 21 orders, which will keep the yard fully occupied until 2010.
"There is a long queue of orders waiting behind us now, so it's sort of inevitable to build the ships and the yard at the same time," a company official said.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, President Lee Myung-bak praised the efforts of the province to attract the shipyard and said local governments need to try their best to invigorate their markets and economies. Some 2.8-trillion won in annual revenue and the creation of 11,000 jobs are expected with the dockyard, Hyundai added.
"We hope the decision to build a new shipyard here, not overseas, will lead to the consequence of killing two birds with one stone; creating jobs and fostering the local economy," an official of HHI said. The new shipyard is expected to give the shipbuilder huge momentum since it can add another 2.8 trillion won to its order books on a yearly basis. HHI had 13.1 trillion won in revenue last year.
