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World's largest ship is being built in Subic, says Arroyo
The Philippines is taking part in an audacious attempt to build the world's largest ship, President Gloria Arroyo has said.
- By Gilbert Felongco, Correspondent
- Published: 00:24 June 24, 2007
Manila: The Philippines is taking part in an audacious attempt to build the world's largest ship, President Gloria Arroyo has said.
In a speech delivered on a visit to the Hanjin shipyard Arroyo said: "They are building the biggest boat in the world right here in Subic."
Hanjin, one of the world's largest ship builders, is constructing 12 container ships in Subic for a Korean firm.
Hanjin officials declined to give more details but the Manila Standard Today point to undisclosed "sources" as saying it would overtake the current largest sea vessel in the world, the 260,851-tonne Seawise Giant, built by Japan-based Sumitomo Oppama Shipyard.
"Indeed, this shipyard of Hanjin will transform Subic into one of the four largest shipbuilding facilities in the whole world," Arroyo said.
The Hanjin shipyard is expected to turn out some 60 ships worth $60 million (Dh220.3 million) every year.
The Korean firm has hired 2,400 Filipinos to build its dry dock and is expected to take in 30,000 more in the next five years.
According to the International Shipping Federation, the country supplies 28.5 per cent of the total 631,500 seamen on board international vessels.
Now, it is vying to be one of the world's biggest shipbuilding countries, alongside Japan, Germany and Russia.
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