Seoul, Korea - STX Offshore & Shipbuilding said on March 3 it signed a contract to build 12 crude oil tankers with Navig8 Product Tankers Inc., a Singaporean shipping company. This is the first large-scale order for the Korean shipbuilder after its made an agreement with the creditors to improve its financial standing in July last year.

 

The crude tankers will be 74,000 WT, at the total cost of 620 billion won. Of the 12 ships, eight will be delivered first and the remaining optional four will be built under the identical specs at the discretion of the shipowner.

 

An STX Offshore & Shipbuilding said, "The deal was the outcome of our people's effort since last year when new president Jung Sung-Leep took the helm and focused on winning mid-sized ship orders. The creditors decided to inject 1.8 trillion won in new funds on February 19, which gave us an opportunity to resume order-taking activities."

 

A creditor bank official commented, "Unlike previous orders that were mostly low margin, the latest one can yield the company a sizable amount of profit as it will build a multiple number of ships."