Ship Repair Market

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The domestic shipbuilding industry is experiencing a severe financial crunch as incoming orders have plummeted in recent months. But now medium-sized shipbuilders are looking to recover by jumping into the niche market of ship repair.

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A 100,000-ton LNG carrier is sitting on a floating dock more than 300 meters long. The ship's rusted surface is being applied with new coats of paint and its parts are meticulously inspected. This shipyard had originally built seafaring vessels, but switched to ship repair three years ago.

[Soundbite] Jeong Yong-kwon(Supervisor, Gwangyang Site, Orient Shipyard) : "We were looking for an area that makes the best use of existing manpower and facilities, and something we could do well. It was ship repair."

Domestic ship repair companies had jumped in the shipbuilding business when the industry was booming. Yet in recent years, ship repair jobs went to Singapore and Malaysia. But as the Korean shipbuilding industry slumped, an increasing number of shipyards are again looking to ship repair to survive the hardship. The ship repair market has been strengthened by tougher safety standards for seafaring vessels. And more ships are in need of a tune-up with over 40% of the world's ships aged 20 years or older.

[Soundbite] Prof. Park Jong-hoon(Mokpo National Univ.) : "Realistically, ship repair can't generate big revenues, but it's an area that is less sensitive to industry climate and ensures a steady profit."

It remains to be seen whether ship repair can rejuvenate Korea's ailing shipbuilders.