The 2008 crisis has caused global shipbuilding to plummet, with Hyundai Heavy, Samsung Heavy and Daewoo reporting combined losses of US$7.5 billion last year alone, but a report by Clarkson Research Services has estimated things to begin improvement in 2018, according to Yonhap News.
In 2016, 586 ships were ordered around the world; in 2017 this number is expected to increase to 790 ships; the Clarkson report predicts that 2018 will see 1,300 ships ordered globally, a significant jump, and further analysis sees steady growth for the industry.
Annually, the global shipbuilding estimate has been around 2,200 for the last 20 years, comparatively the estimates for 2017show how far the industry has fallen. An unnamed industry source said: “If Clarkson's forecast is correct, the global shipbuilding sector will have another tough year.”
Daewoo Shipbuilding is the world’s largest shipbuilder, and it has announced it will be cutting 24% of jobs, amounting to 3,000 people, in a bid to save itself from the current industry crisis and its own debt.
Furthermore, a decline in orders and a fall of some 80% across the industry so far this year has resulted in a $1.01 billion loss for Mitsubishi’s ship construction business in the year-end to March, 2016.
There are rumours that the company could split off its planning and design division, share shipyards with other companies and/or build smaller ships to reduce risk, but these are not officially confirmed.
