The global slump in the shipbuilding industry means that South Korea's ship yards have to look far and wide for new orders.
Combined, the three major yards have only received one order in the first quarter of the year.
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) have received zero new shipbuilding orders, according to sources quoted by local media Yonhap.
Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) is the only one among the three to have landed a KRW150 billion ($130.6 million) order in March to build two petrochemical tankers.
But a report in Korea Times says that so far this year affiliate shipbuilders of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group received only six orders while the small shipbuilder Yeunsoo Heavy Industries clinched an order to build three small vessels that carry chemical products.
U.K.-based shipbuilding and marine transport-related data provider Clarkson Research Services said this is the first time in 15 years for Korean shipbuilders to receive orders amounting to only a single-digit in a quarter, the second time this has happened since the research center started collecting data in 1996.
Despite the crisis in the shipbuilding industry, Chinese and Japanese shipyards are reportedly maintaining their backlogs with domestic orders.
Korean shipyards, on the other hand, are losing business because of a resurgence in Japanese shipbuilders after restructuring, and rising competition from Chinese shipbuilders who get massive government support.
The nation’s thee biggest shipyards are expected to layoff some 15,000 workers by the end of this year; and a total of 40,000 to 50,000 workers will lose their jobs in the next three years, says the news paper.