According to Yonhap News Agency on August 7, at 11:15 a.m. on August 6, a 151-ton large equipment special-purpose vehicle catching fire at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Gunsan Shipyard. After the local fire department was alerted by the shipyard, a total of 23 pump trucks and other equipment and 66 firefighters were deployed, taking more than two hours to extinguish the blaze.
The fire resulted in the destruction of a 151-dwt specialized vehicle for large equipment and the cargo it was carrying. Fortunately, the fire did not spread further to more shipyard facilities in the factory. The local fire department estimated that the property damage caused by the fire accident amounted to 1.75 billion won (approx. $1.28 million).
The local fire department is currently investigating the exact cause of the fire based on the testimony of an eyewitness who stated that “flames and smoke were seen in the second engine compartment on the left side of the accident vehicle while it was in motion.”
It is understood that Gunsan Shipyard is the youngest shipyard under HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, which was established in the most prosperous period of the ship market before the global financial crisis, and started construction in early 2008 and formally put into operation at the end of 2009.
Covering an area of 1.8 million square meters, the shipyard has a 1-million-ton dock, which is about 700 meters long and is equipped with a 115-meter-high gantry crane with a maximum lifting capacity of 1,650 tons.In its heyday, Gunsan Shipyard employed more than 6,000 people and was able to build about 20 ships a year.
On May 4, 2017, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (then Hyundai Heavy Industries) announced that its Gunsan Shipyard would enter a shutdown status with immediate effect due to the depleted orders from the Korean shipbuilding industry at that time, meaning that this shipyard officially went into a state of closure. With the gradual recovery of the shipbuilding industry, Hyundai Heavy Industries announced the restart of the Gunsan Shipyard on October 28, 2022 after five years.
Since its restart, Gunsan Shipyard has been mainly responsible for building hull segments for HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Ulsan Shipyard and delivering the first ship module for large container ships in early 2023. In the last 2 years, Gunsan Shipyard has not been able to get rid of the status quo of being a subcontractor of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Ulsan Shipyard.
The shipyard made it clear that at present, Gunsan Shipyard does not have the capacity to build a whole new ship, and that it will only be able to take orders for new ships on its own if it meets all the necessary production conditions and ensures that it has a competitive advantage over other shipyards. The Korean industry believes that “Gunsan Shipyard is not a shipbuilder, but a fabricator that cuts, welds, assembles and ships segments to Ulsan”.