South Korean shipbuilders were outpaced by Chinese and even Japanese rivals in terms of new orders in August, industry data showed Friday, amid deepening woes over their widening losses.
  

According to the data compiled by global researcher Clarkson Research Services, South Korean shipyards bagged new orders totaling 150,000 compensated gross tons last month, trailing after Japanese shipbuilders with 430,000 CGTs and Chinese ones with 410,000 CGTs.
  

South Korea retained its status as the world's leading shipbuilding country in terms of new orders between February and June. It was relegated to second place in July.
  

In August alone, orders for 39 ships totaling 1.01 million CGTs were placed around the globe, down 64 vessels and 2.2 million CGTs from the previous month, the lowest since September 2009, the data showed.
  

In the first eight months of the year, South Korean shipbuilders secured new shipbuilding orders totaling 7.52 million CGTs, followed by China with 4.48 million CGTs and Japan with 3.98 million CGTs.
  

As of end-August, China had the largest order backlog, totaling 39.77 million CGTs, trailed by South Korea with 31.84 million CGTs and Japan with 19.77 million CGTs, according to the data.
  

South Korean shipbuilders are struggling with huge losses stemming from the delivery of low-priced ships and a delay in the construction of offshore facilities such as drill ships.
  

The country's big three shipbuilders -- Hyundai Heavy, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and Samsung Heavy Industries -- racked up a combined loss of 4.7 trillion won ($3.95 billion) in the first half of 2015. (Yonhap)