HD Hyundai Samho expands berthing facilities

South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Samho Co. has expanded its berthing facilities to meet the growing number of orders for eco-friendly ships.

The subsidiary of the country’s No. 1 shipyard HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (HD KSOE) completed construction of a dolphin berth, a facility that allows ships to berth on both sides using sturdy pillars installed in the sea.

“With completion of the second dolphin berth, HD Hyundai Samho will enhance its responsiveness in the eco-friendly ship market,” HD Hyundai Co. Chairman Kwon Oh-gap said at Wednesday's completion ceremony.

HD Hyundai, the country’s shipbuilding and machinery conglomerate, is a holding company of HD KSOE. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., another subsidiary of HD KSOE, operates the No. 1 dolphin berth stretching 317 m.

TO SPEED UP SHIPBUILDING

The new 530-meter dolphin berth equipped with two large cranes is expected to quadruple the speed of the shipbuilding process. It can accommodate up to four ultra-large vessels at once, said HD Hyundai Samho, formerly Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co.

“The facility is expected to significantly improve the space efficiency as it allows us to dock multiple vessels in the space of only one,” said a company official.

The new dolphin berth extends HD Hyundai Samho’s total quay wall to 3.6 kilometers — enough to work on 18 vessels, according to the shipbuilder.

HD Hyundai Samho broke ground on the berth in July 2023 to ease a berth shortage, which delayed shipbuilding despite growing orders for eco-friendly vessels, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. To alleviate the berth shortage, the company had been leasing nearby ports.

“The growing orders for high value-added ships required the dolphin berth,” said the official. “Eco-friendly vessels such as LNG carriers need up to twice as much work time  on a quay compared with ordinary ships, as many structures need to be installed on top of the vessels.”

Write to Sang Hoon Sung at uphoon@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.