South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries has decided to shut down its Gunsan dockyard starting from July 1, 2017, the company said in a stock exchange announcement.
The shipbuilder said that the yard would be temporarily closed due to a lack of shipbuilding orders. During the period, maintenance and repair works would be undertaken at the site, the company informed.
In March 2017, HHI informed that it was looking to close another one of its dry docks at the Ulsan shipyard, the 380-meter-long Dock 5, which has a capacity to roll out 400,000 tons a year. The dock closure follows Hyundai Heavy’s decision to shut down the ops at its Dock 4 in June 2016.
Additionally, the works at HHI’s offshore dock in Ulsan are scheduled to halt in late 2017, the Korean newspaper Pulse earlier reported.
With these moves, the company will close four of its eleven facilities during the year, raising concerns regarding job security as some 6,000 workers could end up losing their jobs if the industry’s downward path continues in 2017.
World Maritime News Staff