SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's shipbuilding orders logged a double-digit fall last year due to a sharp drop in global demand, the industry ministry said Thursday citing data from Clarkson Research Services.
New vessel orders, won by local shipbuilders, totaled 15.59 million compensated gross tonnage (CGT) in 2022, down 11.6 percent from the previous year's 17.64 million CGT, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
It came as the global shipbuilding orders plunged by 21.6 percent from 53.62 million CGT in 2021 to 42.04 CGT in 2022.
The South Korea-won shipbuilding orders accounted for 37 percent of the global total in 2022, up from 33 percent in the previous year and the highest in four years.
The ministry said the country secured the top one spot in terms of big-ticket orders and eco-friendly vessels last year.
Domestic shipbuilders booked 11.98 million CGT of high value-added ships, such as large-scale liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers, large-size container ships and Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), in 2022.
It took up 58 percent of the combined global orders for such ships at 20.79 million CGT.
Local shipbuilders posted a 50 percent market share in contracts for eco-friendly vessels, mainly powered by LNG.
In terms of value, the country won 45.3 billion U.S. dollars worth of shipbuilding orders in 2022. ■
