South Korean shipbuilder Dae Sun Shipbuilding & Engineering has received a capital injection of over US$32 million from its new owner Dongil Steel and a new investor, BNK Financial Group, to ensure that it can complete its massive container ship orderbook.
Dae Sun emerged from debt restructuring after a majority stake was acquired by Dongil Steel in December 2020 and there were concerns that its weak financial structure would affect its orderbook, although the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the shipbuilder’s main creditor, promised to issue refund guarantees to secure orders.
Hong Kong-based intra-Asia carrier SITC and Greek tonnage provider Cosmoship are among those that have ordered boxships at Dae Sun.
The capital injection was done through the issuance of 8 million new shares, of which Dongil bought 3.48 million shares and BNK bought 4.52 million shares. This saw Dongil increasing its stake in Dae Sun to 44.8%.
In 2021, SITC contracted ten 1,023 TEU vessels at Dae Sun, helping the shipbuilder to exceed its order target by 25%.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
