SOUTH Korean shipbuilders won the most shipbuilding orders worldwide in October 2023, overtaking China and claimed the lead in the global shipbuilding industry.

According to Clarksons Research global ship orders last month amounted to 2.49 million compensated gross tonnage (CGT), a 44 per cent decrease compared to the same month last year, reports The Korea Economic Daily.

Among these, South Korea secured 1.54 million CGT (62 per cent), reclaiming the top spot within three months. China came in second with 820,000 CGT (33 per cent). In terms of the number of vessels, South Korea and China received orders of 18 and 34 ships, respectively.

Cumulative orders from January to October this year totalled 33.69 million CGT (1,324 ships), a 24 per cent decrease compared to the same period last year. South Korea and China's order performance was 8.93 million CGT (184 ships, 27 per cent) and 19.33 million CGT (832 ships, 57 per cent), respectively.

As of the end of October, the global order backlog decreased by 410,000 CGT compared to the end of the previous month, totalling 122.58 million CGT. By country, China had 59.06 million CGT (48 per cent), while South Korea had 38.68 million CGT (32 per cent).

The price of one vessel, based on ship type, was US$265 million for liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers with a capacity of 174,000 cubic meters or more, $128 million for very large crude carriers (VLCC), and $233 million for very large container ships.