[Yonhap News Photo ]
South Korean shipyards were well behind Chinese competitors in the global ranking of first-half orders as they suffer from an unprecedented business setback that prompted sweeping industry-wide restructuring, data showed Monday.
Total new orders placed in the first half of this year worldwide fell sharply to 6.32 million compensated gross ton (CGTs) from 18.04 million CGTs a year earlier, according to research firm Clarkson Research Services.
Over the same six-month period, Chinese shipbuilders secured a total of 2.42 million CGTs, followed by Italy's 890,000 CGTs.
South Korean shipyards posted their worst-ever performance this year. Their first-half new orders hit a record low of 830,000 CGTs, down sharply from 6.85 million CGTs a year earlier.
South Korea's three top shipyards are under creditor-led restructuring to reduce snowballing debts that have weighed heavily on creditor banks and prompted government officials to set up a huge restructuring fund.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
