According to the latest public information, the total global ship orders reached 3.41 million revised gross tons (CGT) in February this year, with a total of 100 ships. In this month, the Korean shipbuilding industry performed well, successfully receiving orders for 1.71 million CGT (28 ships), accounting for 50% of the total global orders, and regaining the first place in the global shipbuilding industry for the first time in a month. China, on the other hand, accounted for 41% (59 vessels), falling to second place.
Another set of data, however, reveals a different picture. 1Of the 258.8 billion CGT, South Korea is far behind China's 62.23 million CGT (49%) with 38.61 million CGT (31%). This means that although South Korea took the lead in the number of orders in February, China still maintains a large advantage in terms of overall hand-held orders.
According to Korean media on March 5, in order to further expand its leading edge in shipbuilding industry technology, South Korea is ready to join hands with HD Korea Shipbuilding Marine, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Hanwha Marine, three shipbuilding giants, to jointly invest 9 trillion won (about 48.6 billion yuan) for technology research and development and innovation in the next five years. This initiative aims to promote the development of Korea's shipbuilding industry and strive to master technologies with a "super gap" in the shipbuilding field in order to cope with increasing international competition.
However, some South Korean experts have expressed concern. They believe that the current international community is under increasing pressure for carbon neutrality, requiring the shipbuilding industry to transform to environmental protection. If South Korea fails to systematically meet this challenge by cultivating high-quality personnel for ship research and design, it may be in a struggle with China for the dominance of shipbuilding in the world.
South Korea's shipbuilding industry's investment plan is not untargeted. They clearly understand that in the current competitive landscape of the global shipbuilding market, it is difficult to maintain a long-term leading position by relying solely on the growth of order volume. Especially in the face of competitors such as China, which have huge production capacity and market share, it is more necessary to build their own competitive advantage through technological innovation and research and development.
The investment plan will focus on the development and production of environmentally friendly ships. With the continuous improvement of global environmental awareness, traditional fuel ships have been difficult to meet the needs of the market. In the future, environmentally friendly ships will become the mainstream of the market, and shipbuilders who have mastered related technologies will take the lead in the competition. Through this investment, the Korean shipbuilding industry hopes to make a breakthrough in the development and production of environmentally friendly ships, and provide more environmentally friendly and efficient ship products for the global market.
However, it is not easy to achieve this goal. The R&D and production of environmentally-friendly ships require the support of high-quality human resources, and the Korean shipbuilding industry has always had shortcomings in personnel training. In order to make up for this shortcoming, South Korea's leading companies need to increase investment in education and R&D to attract and train more outstanding talents to join the shipbuilding industry. Only in this way will the Korean shipbuilding industry be able to make a real breakthrough in technological innovation and environmental transformation and maintain its leading position in the global shipbuilding market.
At the same time, the Korean shipbuilding industry also needs to strengthen cooperation and exchanges with global partners. In the context of globalization, no single country or business can solve all challenges and problems alone. Only through cooperation and exchanges can we jointly promote the development and progress of the global shipbuilding industry. The Korean shipbuilding industry can jointly carry out technology research and development and innovation activities by establishing cooperative relations with internationally renowned shipbuilding companies and scientific research institutions, and promote greater breakthroughs and progress in the research and development and production of environmentally friendly ships.