Global boat show opens new roads for boat makers

An international boat fair, which successfully ended on Sunday, has paved the way for local boat manufacturers to build boats and yachts with homegrown technology, the event's organizer said Monday. Three South Korean companies Hyundai SeesAll Co., Green Shipbuilding & Heavy Industries Co. and Green Ocean Life Co. signed a deal to manufacture catamarans and dinghies with local skill on Sunday, the last day of the Korea International Boat Show 2011 (KIBS), the organizer said. Under the agreement, Green Shipbuilding & Heavy Industries will build 14 catamarans at 45 feet and 55 feet in length worth 17 billion won (US$16 million). Hyundai SeesAll will provide 28 marine diesel engines. Green Ocean Life will distribute and sell the yachts. Green Shipbuilding & Heavy Industries and Green Ocean Life also inked a deal to build 10,000 dinghies, worth around 40 billion won, the organizer said, adding that the Gyeonggi provincial government helped coordinate the deal. According to the deal, Green Shipbuilding & Heavy Industries will manufacture the dinghies based on a Swedish boat maker's design. Green Ocean Life plans to sell the completed products to yacht clubs and marine leisure facilities. Organizers said manufacturing yachts with local technology is forecast to bring down supply costs by up to 33.5 percent. The price tag on 45-foot power cruise boats will drop to 750 million won from 1 billion won and those on 55-foot sale cruise yachts will fall to 1.4 billion won from 2 billion won. Market watchers said the localization of yacht manufacturing is expected to help rid problems such as high product prices and long maintenance periods, which were cited as hurdles for the growth of the local marine leisure sector. "Gyeonggi Province strived to create networks among boat makers through KIBS over the last four years," said Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo. "This has led to fruitful results - the manufacturing of the country's first yachts and boats with its own technology."