South Korean shipyards are entering the second phase of a major restructuring program with the Government asking for more severe appraisal standards than during the initial round.
Banks will evaluate shipbuilders' credit risks before announcing results around March 24. The banks will evaluate the operational performances, facilities, contracts and financial statements before deciding whether to grant the builders loans.
Four shipyards in particular, are concerned with the restructuring and are attracting industry attention. These are: TK Shipbuilding, Seko Heavy Industries, GO Marine Engineering & Shipbuilding and YS Heavy Industries. These small to medium sized newly-established yards each have backlog orders of about ten ships.
In other news, up to 400 shipyard workers at Keppel's Cebu Shipyard could be given the sack due to the state of the current market. Roger Igot, President of the National Federation of Labour Union accused Keppel Cebu of using the global crisis as an excuse to remove workers. Keppel Cebu denied these claims saying that it had been hit by the global financial crisis and had introduced new measures such as job rotation in order to cut costs.