25th JECKU Top Executive Meeting
October 20, 2016 Gyeongju, Korea
Chairman’s Note
The 25th JECKU Top Executive Meeting was held in Gyeongju on October
20, 2016, and was attended by representatives from major shipbuilders inJapan, Europe, China, Korea and the United States.
This year the meeting was opened with the report of a guest economist on
the world economy and energy. Each of the delegations provided a reporton shipbuilding in their respective regions. Global supply and demand wasdiscussed including individual briefs on specific ship type markets. Lastly,the CESS chairman delivered the report which consisted primarily of theactivities of regulatory bodies.
All of the delegations expressed concerns about the current world
economic situation. Slow growth continues, led primarily by major
emerging economies, and growth projections in future continue to decline.
Signs of protectionism in many parts of the world form a worrisome trend
and geopolitical risks will add to the uncertainty of global trade.
The latest shipbuilding situations in each country were presented. The
decrease in new orders and few positive signs of recovery in near futurecause a difficult situation to most of the delegations. They agreed that theshipbuilders need to promote mutual understanding as to what is needed
to bring healthy recovery of the market.
The delegations have also exchanged the views on the global fleet supply,
demand and shipbuilding capacity. In the past year, shipping oversupply
has continued to drive ship prices down while simultaneously reducing
demand. The discussion over the ship type sectors showed clearly thatcertain sectors have been significantly impacted by this trend.

The delegations formed a consensus that it will take a long time for acomplete recovery of shipping and to see improvements in thesupplydemand gap in shipbuilding industry.
The delegations agreed that it is imperative to reflect a common voice inthe decision making process at the International Maritime Organization(IMO). Ship Construction File (SCF)’ issue of Goal- Based Standards (GBS)
was mentioned as an example of joint response.
While the delegations acknowledged that the difficult market situation in
shipbuilding is linked to a slow and uncertain economic recovery and amismatch between shipbuilding capacity and demand, it was also
recognized that the challenges of environmental requirements which will
be tightened could provide the opportunity for innovation. Innovation in
Shipbuilding technologies will be of core importance for a steadydevelopment of the ecofriendly maritime industry and could also open up
new business areas.
The delegations shared the view that shipbuilders need to urge regulatory
authorities to implement worldwide environmental regulation which
stimulates innovation while at the same time safeguard intellectual
property.
The participants also agreed that any regulations that may form
disturbance to the level playing field are not helpful in creating a healthymarket and the global discipline on Export credits is essential for faircompetition.
In conclusion, all the participants agreed to make constant disciplined
efforts for a continued sound development of the shipbuilding industry andto intensify corporate social responsibility for the industry
The United States will host the 26th JECKU Top Executive Meeting in 2017.
The delegates have agreed to meet again in November 15~16, 2017 in San
Diego, California.
END