Hyundai Heavy Industries to Build New South Korean Frigate
Friday, Jan 09, 2009
Hyundai Heavy Industries has been awarded a contract to build the lead ship of the South Korean Navys new 2,300 ton-class frigates to begin service in 2011, a military source said Wednesday.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) signed the contract worth about 140 billion won Dec. 26 with Hyundai, which had been in charge of the basic design of the state-of-the-art frigate codenamed FFX, said the source.
FFX ships will replace the older Ulsan class frigates and Donghae/Pohang class corvettes by 2020, according to the Navy.The first six FFX ships are to be built by 2015 to replace the current nine Ulsan class frigates in service. The lead ship of the Ulsan class was commissioned in 1981.
Source: Koreatimes
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Related Article-1:
Hyundai Heavy Industries to Build New Frigate
01-07-2009 17:43
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The Korea Times
Hyundai Heavy Industries has been awarded a contract to build the lead ship of the South Korean Navy’s new 2,300 ton-class frigates to begin service in 2011, a military source said Wednesday.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) signed the contract worth about 140 billion won Dec. 26 with Hyundai, which had been in charge of the basic design of the state-of-the-art frigate codenamed FFX, said the source.
FFX ships will replace the older Ulsan class frigates and Donghae/Pohang class corvettes by 2020, according to the Navy.
The first six FFX ships are to be built by 2015 to replace the current nine Ulsan class frigates in service. The lead ship of the Ulsan class was commissioned in 1981.
According to sources, the Navy wants to launch 24 to 27 FFX vessels by 2020 as part of efforts to bolster its coastal defense operations.
“The FFX is expected to help strengthen the Navy’s littoral operations regarding anti-air, anti-ship and detection capabilities as it will carry various indigenous or newly developed technology, such as combat command systems, 3D search radar and towed array sonar,” the military source told The Korea Times, asking not to be named.
The FFX, with a full load displacement of 3,200 tons, will carry a Lynx anti-submarine helicopter, Navy officials said. It will have a crew of 170 and sail at a top speed of 32 knots, they said.
The ship will be armed with light torpedoes and anti-ship missiles as well as a 127mm gun, they said. It will also be equipped with RAM Mk 31 guided missiles and a 30-mm “Goalkeeper” system for engaging incoming sea-skimming anti-ship missiles.
No surface-to-air missiles and anti-submarine missiles as well as a vertical missile launching system are planned, according to sources.
Its operational range is 4,500 nautical miles. The ship will have conventional diesel/gasoline propulsion.
gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr
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Related Article-1:
Hyundai Heavy Industries Brings Back Retirees
Updated Jan.9,2009 10:41 KST
The world’s number one shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries, is bringing back some of its former employees, while many layoffs are expected among other domestic corporations this year.
The shipbuilder recently signed a one-year contract with 560 of its retired manufacturing workers, many of whom are looking for financial security during the economic slowdown.
Most of the returning workers retired last year and they will be eligible to receive 80 percent of their earlier wage rates.
The shipbuilding titan expects the expertise of its veteran workers to give it a competitive edge.
Arirang News
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Related Article-2:
Hyundai’s ship unit to see revenue jump 26%
By Reuters on Sunday, January 04, 2009
Business 24/7
Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder, said its estimated 2008 revenue would reach $15.6 billion (Dh57.2bn), up 26 per cent from 2007.
The South Korean company said in a filing with the Korea Exchange that it won $28.2bn worth of orders this year, a 13 per cent increase from 2007.
The shipbuilding industry faces declining orders and falling shipping demand as the global downturn deepens, but sector leaders such as Hyundai and rival Samsung Heavy Industries are poised to weather the slump thanks to backlogs of crude and bulk carrier orders won during the past boom years.
Meanwhile, shipmakers in India may maintain profit growth in 2009/2010 but order flows will deteriorate further as shipping services firms, stung by a credit crisis and plunging sea rates, put expansion plans on hold and cancel orders.
ABG Shipyard, India’s largest private listed shipbuilder, received its last order in June worth $121 million.
Rival Bharati Shipyard, which has an order book of $998m, is mostly executing old orders “In terms of financials, they are not going to be impacted as they already have booked orders until 2010/2011″, said Anand Sharma, a Mumbai-based independent shipping consultant.
“So, if in 2009 there are no orders, it will give them an indication that worse is around [the corner]. In such a situation, 2010 calendar year could be bad financially,” he added.
State-run Shipping Corporation of India has postponed its Rs50bn (Dh654.2m) expansion plans by at least six months, while Essar Shipping Ports and Logistics cancelled orders for three vessels.
Shipping firms overseas are also going slow on expansion, making it tougher for shipyards to survive, analysts said.
Estimates show 30 per cent of the orders for dry bulk carrier ships globally could be cancelled because of lack of finance.
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