HHIC-Phil Delivers First Philippine-Built VLCC

On Tuesday, Hanjin Heavy Industries Corporation-Philippines announced the delivery of the Gener8 Hector, a 300,000 dwt VLCC for Gener8 and Navig8. She is the nineteenth in a series, but she is the first vessel of her type – and perhaps the largest vessel of any type – ever to be built in the Philippines. 

“While the global shipbuilding market has experienced rough sailing over the past few years, HHIC-Phil has . . . continued to maintain its foothold in the international front, capitalizing on our technological advancements and highly skilled workforce,” said the yard's president, Chung Gwang-suk.

In addition to the VLCC order, HHIC-Phil holds contracts for six 11,000 TEU container ships for Costamare and Seaspan and three 20,600 TEU ULCVs for CMA CGM. When delivered, the ULCVs will be the largest container ships in the world. 

HHIC-Phil is located directly across Subic Bay from the former U.S. naval base at Olongapo, and it is within a tax-free industrial development zone. Its construction began in 2006, and over the past nine years of full operation it has delivered about 100 vessels. The yard employs 33,000 people; unlike most of its competitors, it is actively recruiting. 

At a recent awards ceremony in Manila, a company official told reporters that the Korean-owned yard had pursued "aggressive localization strategies” in sourcing its suppliers and workers, and that it would keep up its efforts in Subic Bay "to raise the reputation of the Republic of Korea as a global leader in shipbuilding.”