South Korea wins Royal Navy tanker deal

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering won bids to build four 35,000-ton next-generation support tankers for the British Royal Navy worth a total of US$700 million on Wednesday. This is third-largest order ever recorded in Korea's defense-related exports, following an order for $1.08 billion worth of submarines from Indonesia, and another for K-9 self-propelled artillery from Turkey worth $1 billion. It is also significant in that it was an export deal to Britain, which built the world's first modern warships. The British government announced that DSME had been chosen as the preferred bidder to build the new support tankers, which are tasked with supplying fuel, ammunition and food to warships. Three firms, including Daewoo, Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Italy's Fincantieri competed for the bid. The two Korean companies reportedly gained the upper hand due to their technological prowess and price competitiveness. British officials inspected them both in April and May last year, and also visited supply tankers of the Korean Navy. An official at Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration said, "We have secured a stepping stone to make inroads into the European market for military vessels."