A giant crane remains unused in the Hyundai Heavy Industries dockyard for offshore facilities in Ulsan. [Yonhap News Photo]
SEOUL -- A dockyard mounted with giant cranes, including one from a closed Swedish shipyard, was left empty after Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipbuilder, sent the last part of an offshore module for fixed platforms in an oilfield northwest of Abu Dhabi.
Hyundai Heavy said an accommodation platform built for a crude oil production facility for Nasr in the United Arab Emirates left a drydock for offshore facilities in the southeastern industrial port city of Ulsan at 6:00 pm (0900 GMT) after a humble ceremony.
In its heyday five years ago, Hyundai Heavy used to have about 4,000 regular works and 20,000 others dispatched by subcontractors just at its dockyard for offshore facilities. From Tuesday, it became vacant for the first time in 35 years because the company has failed to win any orders for offshore plants for 45 months.
Hyundai Heavy has proposed an unpaid leave of absence for 2,600 regular workers at its idle dockyard for offshore plants, rejecting the union's request for redeployment to ensure job security. The temporary layoff has yet to be approved at negotiations between management and union leaders.
For years, Hyundai Heavy has been involved in sweeping restructuring to ride out a protracted business slump. In 2017, sales were down 31 percent on-year to 15.4 trillion won (14 billion US dollars) and operating profit fell 96 percent to 14.6 billion won.
Ulsan used to boast of South Korea's highest per-capita income, but there are worries that the city may face the Swedish city of Malmo, which was once known for its robust shipbuilding industry, with its iconic 128-meter-tall crane regarded as a symbol of its manufacturing industry. The crane was nicknamed the "Tears of Malmo" after it was sold to Hyundai Heavy in 2002 only for one US dollar and residents cried at the sight of it being shipped to Ulsan.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
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