[Courtesy of Hyundai Heavy]
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.'s mega project to establish a ship repair and shipbuilding joint venture in Saudi Arabia has gathered pace by signing a shareholder agreement with key business partners, including Saudi Aramco, industry sources said Thursday.
Hyundai Heavy, a major South Korean shipyard, and Saudi Arabia's state-run oil firm Aramco have been seeking to build a joint shipbuilding and maintenance yard and a maritime engine facility in Saudi Arabia.
In November of last year, the South Korean shipyard signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Aramco for the project. According to the sources, Saudi Aramco, Hyundai Heavy and two other business partners signed a deal to build a shipyard on the Middle Eastern country's east coast.
The project, worth US$5.3 billion, is forecast to begin in 2019. Details of the deal were not disclosed. If the project goes smoothly, Hyundai Heavy will be well-positioned to win shipbuilding deals from Saudi Arabia.
(Yonhap)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
