Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) has signed a business agreement with the Iranian government on operation and technology instruction for Iranian state-run shipbuilder Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex Co. (ISOICO), reports the Pulse.
Under the agreement, the South Korea’s shipbuilder will transfer technology and conduct consignment management on the Iranian shipbuilder.
The deal is expected to help DSME and other domestic shipbuilders win orders from refiners and other companies in Iran.
ISOICO is currently capable of constructing up to four 80,000-dwt vessels per year and is able to build bulk carriers, containerships and product tankers, but has ambitions to build larger and more sophisticated vessels.
Iran has been seeking to cooperate with Korean shipbuilders to modernize its aging dockyards. The Iranian government wanted to acquire technology of Korea to develop the shipbuilding industry and the government reached an agreement with the Korean shipbuilder on the partnership, according to sources in Iran.
According to DSME officials, the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO), the state-run organization in charge of the nation's strategic industries such as automobiles and shipbuilding, is seeking to form a partnership with the Korean shipbuilder.
IDRO is in charge of core industries including automobile and shipbuilding. ISOICO is a state-owned company for shipbuilding under IDRO. The company has a large shipyard in Iranian port city Bandar Abbas.
Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, and other local firms are also expected to make inroads into the Middle Eastern nation, which has quickly emerged as a promising market for struggling shipbuilders there.