Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Korea’s leading shipbuilder, said Thursday that the accumulated gross tonnage of ships it delivered surpassed the milestone 100 million mark, making it the first shipyard in the world to do so.

The feat was achieved only 40 years after Hyundai Heavy entered the shipbuilding business in 1972, it said.

Hyundai Heavy recorded 10 million gross tonnage of ships in terms of volume in 1986 and 50 million gross tonnage in 2002.

So far, Hyundai Heavy has delivered a total of 1,805 diverse types of ships, ranging from drilling vessels, LNG or LPG carriers and container ships to submarines and naval ships, to more than 280 ship owners in 49 different countries.

The ships include 510 container ships, 351 oil tankers, 343 bulk carriers and 124 product carriers.

Hyundai Heavy, which is also the world’s largest shipbuilder, operates 11 docks in the country and builds some 100 vessels annually, with its annual shipbuilding capacity reaching 13 million gross tonnage. 

(Yonhap News)