The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy jointly announced that they co-hosted the inaugural ceremony of the “Shipbuilding-Shipping Mutually Beneficial Development Strategic Council” at Lotte Hotel in Seoul on April 28.

The two associations representing the shipbuilding and shipping industries had agreed at the “Autonomous Navigation Vessel M.AX Alliance Strategic Meeting” last December to establish a mutual cooperation council at the earliest possible time, and this event marks the fulfillment of that commitment.

The event was attended by the ministers of both ministries, along with representatives from Korea Gas Corporation, the Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering Association, the Korea Shipping Association, and the heads of major domestic shipbuilders and shipping companies, drawing some 100 participants in total who reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening strategic solidarity between the two sectors.

Major competing nations have recently been linking their domestic shipping and shipbuilding industries to expand domestic orders. Korea, despite ranking second in order intake share and fourth in fleet carrying capacity and thus possessing world-class competitiveness in both areas, has faced criticism for insufficient mutual cooperation and industrial linkage between the two sectors.

In particular, as geopolitical risks have expanded amid recent developments such as the war in the Middle East — including the transportation of key energy resources — the importance of building a maritime supply chain that connects domestic vessel construction to national-flagged vessel transport has grown significantly.

In response, the “Shipbuilding-Shipping Mutually Beneficial Development Strategic Council” has been established, centered on the two associations and composed of sector-specific experts drawn from shipbuilders, shipping companies, the government, and academia. The W.A.V.E. initiative was simultaneously announced as the key strategic framework to be pursued.

The W.A.V.E. strategy represents the mutual development vision for the shipbuilding and shipping sectors, encompassing four pillars: securing world-leading, supercompetitive technology (W, World Top Class); forming a broad industrial alliance across the shipbuilding and shipping sectors (A, Alliance); expanding the national fleet and securing workloads for domestic shipbuilders (V, Vessel Production); and building a regionally rooted, mutually beneficial innovation ecosystem (E, Ecosystem).

Going forward, the two industries have agreed to swiftly identify detailed tasks under each of the four strategic pillars within the framework of the Strategic Council and to establish concrete implementation plans by the end of the year.

At the event, the shipbuilding and shipping associations adopted the “Declaration on Joint Ordering of Nationally-Flagged Vessels for the Development of the Republic of Korea’s Shipbuilding and Maritime Cluster” as the first step in their strategic collaboration, and agreed to strengthen order linkages and strategic cooperation between domestic shipping companies and shipyards.

In addition, the three major shipbuilders, Korea Gas Corporation, and the Korea Shipping Association signed a memorandum of understanding for the advancement of LNG transportation.

The government and industry reaffirmed their plan to build a one-team structure in which shipbuilding and shipping move together under a single industrial strategy — transcending their respective domains — covering technology development, demonstration, fleet expansion, and related areas.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plan to jointly advance institutional improvements, budget support, the establishment of demonstration infrastructure, and linkages with regional industrial bases as a shipbuilding-shipping one-team, grounded in feedback from the field.

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-gwan stated, “Shipbuilding and shipping are industries of national economic security, and it is highly significant that we have formally activated an action-oriented cooperation framework that goes beyond individual industries and jointly designs and advances demand, technology, demonstration, and institutional reform.” He added, “Based on the W.A.V.E. strategy, I look forward to shipbuilding and shipping riding a wave of prosperity and making a leap forward together.”
Source: Business Korea