S Korean Navy launches third Aegis destroyer

SEOUL (BNS): The South Korean Navy Thursday launched its third Aegis destroyer, the Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong, at a Hyundai Heavy Industries’ facility near Seoul.

The 7,600-ton warship, equipped with the US-made state-of-the-art Aegis air defence system, was handed over to the Navy by its builder the Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. at its Ulsan facility near Seoul, the official Yonhap news agency said.

The Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong is the third King Sejong the Great class of destroyers, which are also called KDX-III class of warships.

HHI delivers 5,000th HiMSEN Marine Engine

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world largest shipbuilder and marine engine manufacturer, achieved an aggregate 5,000 unit of HiMSEN (Hi-Touch Medium Speed Engine) engine production in ten years after its first unit in 2001.

The HiMSEN engine is used for both the propulsion of ships and power generation for onshore power plants. The engine features light-weight design, high-output, and high-efficiency, and was awarded prizes at major exhibitions such as iF Product Design Award in 2009 and Red Dot Design Award in 2010. The annual production of the engines has increased rapidly from 4 units in 2001, 123 units in 2004, to more than 700 units from 2007.

HHI first shipyard to reach 1,700 ship milestone

On January 31, Hyundai Heavy Industries became the world’s first shipbuilder to deliver its 1,700^th ship.

The company achieved this milestone record in 37 years after its first delivery of 260,000 DWT VLCC (very large crude oil carrier), Atlantic Baron in 1974.

The 1,700^th vessel, Morning Lily, is an 8,100 unit pure car/truck carrier ordered by EUKOR Car Carriers.

If Hyundai Heavy’s delivery target of 110 ships for this year is reached, the company will be well on the way to surpassing the 2,000 ship milestone by the second half of 2013.

As of the end of January this year, the accumulated gross tonnage (GT) of ships Hyundai Heavy has delivered stands at 97.76 million. Hyundai Heavy is slated to set up a new delivery record of 100 million GT this April.

Since its establishment in 1972, Hyundai Heavy, as the world’s largest shipbuilder, has delivered ships to over 260 shipowners in 50 countries with 10% of global shipbuilding market share. Furthermore its ships have been recognized as Significant Ships for 28 years in a row since 1983.