South Korea’s largest and financially-troubled shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. obtained an order for a combat support ship from the navy of New Zealand - the first order in the kind in 30 years.
The Korean shipbuilder announced that it Monday signed a contract for the construction of a combat logistics ship of 23,000 tons at full load designed mainly to carry oil for battleships. The final agreement was signed in Wellington, New Zealand by Kim Jung-hwan, an executive in charge of shipbuilding business of the Korean company, and Helene Quilter, Secretary of Defense of New Zealand.
The Korean shipbuilder was selected as a preferred bidder in December last year upon beating bidders from Germany and Spain. Negotiations panned out for seven months. The contract is estimated to be worth $350 million.
The support ship would replace Endeavor, a 12,000 ton naval tanker delivered to the navy of New Zealand in 1987. The shipyard will begin the construction in February 2018 and deliver the vessel by December 2019.
