Hyundai Heavy Industries successfully advanced into the drillship engine market, installing products it developed in a high-value-added drillship.
The world’s top shipbuilder announced Wednesday that it received 98 orders for HiMSEN, the engine it developed, from global drilling companies, including Noble Drilling of the United States. The orders total $150 million.
HiMSEN is the first and the only engine developed with the country’s homegrown technology. It started producing the engines from 2001, with total production so far amounting to 5,000 as of February 2011. It successfully took to the global market, taking 35 percent of the medium-sized engine segment.
However, the door was closed for the shipbuilder for a considerable time in the drillship engine market. As engines in drillships must withstand harsh surroundings in the sea, only a few foreign companies were in the market. Global players like MDT of Germany, Wartsila of Finland, and Caterpillar of the U.S., have been the few reigning the global market.
“We exported around 6,700 sets of ‘HiMSEN’ to around 40 countries so far. The order for drillship is meaningful as we expanded the market to high value market,” a representative for the shipbuilder said.
The engines will be installed in 15 drillships that Hyundai Heavy Industries will be building from early next year. The engine provides electricity to thrusters which control location and accelerate the ship. There are generally six to eight engines loaded on a drillship.