International Boat Industry – June-July 2019

(Wang) #1

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.

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