Samsung Heavy Industries Co., another big shipbuilder here, is forecast to have racked up an operating income of 31 billion won for the third quarter, down sharply from the 84 billion won tallied a year earlier.

Its sales are expected to drop to 1.8 trillion won from 2.78 trillion won over the cited period, the data showed.

Troubled Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. is also projected to have chalked up a profit under the recently ended quarter, but it may suffer from weaker earnings than a year earlier.

South Korean shipbuilders have been under severe financial strain since the 2008 global economic crisis, which sent new orders tumbling amid a glut of vessels and tougher competition from Chinese rivals.

Two years ago, orders dropped sharply, and that is now affecting their bottom lines as well.

The country's top three shipyards suffered a combined operating loss of 8.5 trillion won in 2015. The loss was due largely to increased costs stemming from a delay in the construction of offshore facilities and an industrywide slump, with Daewoo Shipbuilding alone posting a 5.5 trillion-won loss.

Last year, Hyundai Heavy managed to post profits, but the other two yards suffered losses.  

The top three players conducted massive self-rescue plans to tide them over their worst-ever slump. Last year, their combined job cuts came to at least 20,000. (Yonhap)