International Boat Industry – June-July 2019

44 JUNE–JULY 2019 | International Boat Industry ibinews.com

Markets & Regions

OVERVIEW | SOUTH KOREA

the country, confirmed sales of 700 units a

year in 2018 of boats of all sizes, including

inflatable models. The latest leisure boat

registration figures available for 2017

showed 3,522 boats were registered, down

from 4,863 in 2016. However, new leisure

boat driving licences issued in 2017 were

21,596 for 2017 – an increase over the 2016

figure of 16,511, raising speculation in

industry circles about the high number of

unregistered leisure boats in the market,

especially used and ‘grey’ market imports.

Sea fishing is a key driver for the Korean

boater, with an estimated one million

people going fishing every week and

eight million participants yearly. Fishing

has acquired something of a cult status,

with regular prime-time TV programs.

The optimum Korean fishing boat size is

23ft-26ft with the majority being trailer-

mounted with storage compounds adjacent

to launching sites becoming

very popular.

According to local industry member

Mr Hong, who runs a boat repair business

in Jeongok marina near Seoul: “Six years

ago, Japanese second-hand brands were

popular. Now US brands with walkaround

style have gained prominence. Robalo,

Trophy, Grady White, Boston Whaler,

Scout and Striker are the main brands,

although the market is quite price sensitive

and locally-built boats are gaining ground.”

INFRASTRUCTURE

Development in marinas is being actively

promoted by the government in Korea, a

move that was initiated by the governor of

Gyeonggi Province in 2008. At that time,

there was only one active marina in the

country. Now there are 19, with a vision

to have 58 to accommodate the increasing

number of leisure boats. This marina

growth shows the power of the support

of the government for boating, a situation

unique in Asia.

In parallel with the growth of the

marinas, a program of training technicians

to support the growing market was

initiated three years ago, creating a unique

partnership between Korea and the UK.

Tim Coventry, who has been an advisor

to KIBS and Gyeonggi Province on the

development of the leisure boating market

since 2007, was involved with initiating

the program. “The South Korean leisure

marine industry has seen significant

growth over the past 10 years, which has

led to a skills gap emerging within the

service, repair and aftersales sector of the

leisure marine industry,” Coventry told IBI

in Korea. “Co-operation with South Devon

College in the UK has produced a quality-

training programme for future technicians

by running instructor training courses

in the UK. This will further improve the

leisure boating experience and create

additional opportunities for employment

within this growing industry.”

KIBS 2019

The organisers of KIBS, the Korean

National Exhibition Centre and KOTRA,

the Korean government trade promotion

organisation, reconfigured the layout

of this year’s show by opening up

exhibition space areas for smaller boat

manufacturers without the additional

costs of expensive stand construction.

This resulted in some 40 boat exhibits by

smaller builders who would not otherwise

exhibit. Dr C H Kim, general manager of

KIBS, said: “The Korea International Boat

Show is the main promotional channel

for Korea’s marine leisure industry. This

year’s KIBS was the start for Korean

manufacturers to promote their products

to the overseas markets as well as the

domestic one.”

Danny Lim, head of operations at

KINTEX, added: “We wanted to encourage

smaller Korean boatbuilders to exhibit

and this year our initiative to provide

lower cost space for them has been very

successful.”

The increase in the number of local

manufacturers compensated for the lack

of larger overseas boat brands such as

Beneteau, Princess and Sunseeker, who

chose not to exhibit boats in the KINTEX

venue although some larger boats were

present at the on water show located a

15-minute shuttle bus ride away at Ara

Marina. A tightening economy over the

past two years has reduced consumer

spending power somewhat for high-end

leisure products and is cited by local

industry experts as a key reason for a

market slow down with larger leisure boats.

A noticeable trend was the growth

in electrically-powered boat propulsion

SHyundai SeasAll launched its new concept diesel outboard at KIBS

systems on offer, both outboards and

inboard installations.

Korean marine engine manufacturer

Hyundai SeasAll chose KIBS to launch a

revolutionary new outboard diesel engine

concept by combining their lightweight

199kW V6 marine diesel engine with a

short drive shaft completely encased in a

pod that carries the propeller, drive shaft,

rudder and steering system. The concept

gained the Innovation prize award from

the show organisers alongside an award to

boatbuilder Daewon Marine Tec, which

exhibited its new RIB the ‘Blue Way 15 Cat’.

Hyundai SeasAll’s international

operations director, Edwin Lim, described

the advantages of the new engine system

to IBI. “Our new concept diesel outboard

model S30-OB offers the advantage of

simplicity, safety, robustness and fuel

economy that comes with a diesel engine

over petrol installations,” he said. “This

is particularly applicable to the workboat

market, where we have already tested our

concept. The engine and drive comes as a

complete unit ready to be fitted onto the

boat’s transom and uniquely, compared to

conventional outboards, the pod provides

buoyancy to support the weight of the

engine and transmission. The whole pod

unit can also be adjusted for trim under

way using hydraulic rams to give an engine

installation that features the simplicity and

reliability of shaft drive systems with a trim

facility to optimise the boats performance.”

CONCLUSIONS

The KIBS organisers announced that the

next edition of the show, planned for an

earlier date in the year – March 12, 2020

• will combine with an existing fishing
  show in order to leverage on the eight
  million active participants in fishing who
  are increasingly interested in purchasing
  their own boat. A weekend visit to the
  coastal marina at Jeongok Port during KIBS
  revealed strong growth over previous years
  in trailer-mounted boats used for fishing
  and island hopping with packed trailer
  parks and slipways. The joining of the two
  shows is expected to nearly double the
  show size in 2020.