[Courtesy of Hyundai Heavy Industries]
SEOUL -- Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipbuilder, proposed voluntary retirement and a drastic reduction in the structure of its troubled offshore facility division, three days after it sent the last part of an offshore module for fixed platforms in an oilfield northwest of Abu Dhabi.
With no backlog of orders, the drydock for offshore facilities in the southeastern industrial port city of Ulsan has been vacant since an accommodation platform built for a crude oil production facility for Nasr in the United Arab Emirates left on Monday. Hyundai Heavy has failed to win any orders for offshore plants for 45 months.
"An emergency situation is inevitable to secure competitiveness necessary for new orders," Kim Sook-hyun, head of the shipbuilder's offshore and engineering division, said in a message, vowing to exhaust every means such as drastic reorganization and voluntary retirement.
Thousands of workers dispatched by subcontractors have already left the dockyard for offshore facilities, leaving behind some 2,600 regular workers. Hyundai Heavy has proposed an unpaid leave of absence, 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.
"Many workers in the offshore business have already left, and the remaining people are struggling to head off competition and unpredictable market conditions," Kim said, adding he would also step down to take responsibility.
"To win new orders, we have tried to squeeze a dry towel," he said, conceding Hyundai Heavy lost to competitors in Singapore and China. 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).
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
