Shipbuilding and offshore engineering is the study and development of ships and offshore structures, but can it become a key industry for the Korean economy?
After the Korean War, Korea faced an incredibly difficult time: the country was devastated by the war, the population was decimated, and many people were left homeless. However, the country developed rapidly and is often referred to as the “Miracle of the Han River”. There were many factors that contributed to Korea’s economic growth, but ships played an important role. Even today, ships are the largest export of Korea. Therefore, I would like to introduce “shipbuilding and marine engineering,” a field of study that deals with ships.
As its name suggests, shipbuilding and marine engineering can be summarized simply as an engineering that deals with shipbuilding and marine engineering. Shipbuilding means building ships, and it produces many different types of vessels such as merchant ships, yachts, fishing boats, warships, and submarines. Offshore engineering is the study and design of offshore structures and related equipment, which can be represented by offshore plants that harvest and process resources buried in the ocean. These engineering disciplines are based on the study of fluid mechanics, which deals with fluids such as water and air, and statics, which examines the stability of structures, and I am currently in the process of learning these subjects.
Korea’s shipbuilding industry is now said to be the best in the world. Seven of the world’s top 10 shipyards are Korean, accounting for 40% of the world’s shipbuilding orders. In recent years, China has been making inroads into the shipbuilding industry with price competitiveness. To explain ‘luxury ships’ using an automobile analogy, there are automobile companies that produce cars that are expensive but of high quality, such as Lexus and Infiniti. Similarly, we are trying to produce ships that are slightly behind China in terms of price, but are of high quality and performance. To improve this quality and performance, many students and researchers, including myself, are designing their own models and experimenting in water tanks.
Currently, most land on Earth has an owner. It is not in our national interest to discover resources on land that has a clear owner, such as the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, but there are still many unclaimed oceans, which make up a much larger portion of the planet than land. These oceans are expected to be rich in resources such as oil that we need. If we can bring these resources to Korea with Korean technology, it will be a great benefit to Korea, both economically and scientifically. That is why many shipbuilding and offshore engineering students are studying offshore structures, and I am also interested in these structures and strive to contribute to the development of this field in the future.
Furthermore, the advancement of marine engineering can play an important role in environmental protection beyond just economic benefits. The marine environment is an important part of our planet’s ecosystem, and it is vital to protect and sustainably utilize it. Through marine engineering, we can develop more efficient and environmentally friendly ships and offshore structures to promote the sustainable utilization of marine resources. I believe it is very important to research and develop the discipline in this direction.
