Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. has maintained its position as the world's largest shipbuilder by order backlog for 11 straight months, industry data showed Friday.

According to the data compiled by global researcher Clarkson Research Services, the South Korean shipbuilder had the largest order backlog totaling 8.50 million compensated gross tons as of end-September.

Daewoo Shipbuilding was followed by its major local rivals, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co., whose comparable figures were 5.13 million CGTs and 5.01 million CGTs, respectively.

Since November last year, Daewoo Shipbuilding has been the world's largest shipyard in terms of tons of ships on order.

The shipbuilder is pushing to restructure, including selling assets and reducing the number of its executives, as it is reeling from massive losses.

The shipyard suffered a record loss in the second quarter, largely due to increased costs stemming from a delay in the construction of low-priced ships and offshore facilities.

The net loss came to 2.39 trillion won ($2.1 billion) in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 76 billion won a year earlier, the company said.

Its creditors, led by the state-run Korea Development Bank, is devising a rescue plan for the shipbuilder that will likely include an injection of additional funds from its creditors, as well as a $5 billion refund guarantee on advance payments made to Daewoo Shipbuilding. (Yonhap)