All shipyards, shipbuilders & docks in North Asia (Japan, Korea)

This area which is combining two of the top shipbuilding nations is doubtlessly the powerhouse of the global shipyard industry. Japan’s higher labour costs have made it less competitive in the repair market than the competition in Korea, Singapore and of course China. It is understood that this has led Japanese repair yards to concentrate on domestic niche markets, where efficiency and automation, rather than simply low costs, can give them a competitive edge. By doing this Japan will maintain a strategic level of ship repair capability, even though the market share of its shipbuilding industry has declined. South Korea has maintained a successful balance between ship repair and new building activity and continues to broaden its capability to handle a wide range of commercial vessels. The ship repair industry is dominated by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) with the world's largest single repair complex. HMD plays an important part in the world's ship repair industry, concentrating on markets such as bulk carriers, containerships and the conversion industry. South Korea also has a vast domestic fleet, which tends to use South Korean ship repair yards for scheduled dockings. Most South Korean yards admit to a slightly (10 to 15 percent) higher price level basis than in Singapore. However, South Korea is ideally located for ships which are trading into Japan, as long as no lengthy tank cleaning operations are required. Hanjin Heavy Industries Co. (HHIC) operates the Youngdo Shipyard in the Port of Pusan, the country's largest and busiest port. Although the main activity in this shipyard is newbuilding, two graving docks have been transferred to the repair market. The largest of these is a 150,000 dwt capacity drydock, which is dedicated solely to the repair market. Of course, a number of repair contracts had come from Hanjin's shipowning division, Hanjin Shipping Co., which is history now. Another of South Korea's expanding ship repair facilities is Daewoo Heavy Industries (DHI) at Koje Island, which recently doubled its repair capacity following the purchase of a Panamax-sized floating dock. DHI already operates a 120,000 dwt capacity floating dock.