Beyond Compliance: the world according to Park

摘要

In a frank interview with The Naval Architect Korean Register Chairman & CEO BS Park shares his views on the class market, the shipbuilding industry, new ferry regulations and the IMO Secretary-General elect Ki-tack Lim Shipping remains "in the doldrums" BS Park announces, as it has been since 2008. He expects the shipbuilding market to recover in 2017 arguing that the yards should be fully booked by then. However, a simple return to the pre-crisis days remains unlikely as shipyards around the globe and in South Korea in particular struggle with over-capacity of both ships and shipbuilding capacity. In 2008 most Korean yards opted to refocus their businesses on the offshore market in order to weather the loss of commercial vessel business. Today that offshore business has also been hit as oil prices have collapsed, with WTI still at US$44.63 and Brent Crude at US$48.14 a barrel at the time of writing. And the prospects of an increase in that level remain remote, with analysts expecting crude oil prices to climb to around US$51/barrel in a year's time.