Chinese shipbuilders have beaten their Korean counterparts this year having snapped up the biggest share of orders, totaling in 290 vessels, data from VesselsValue shows.

The country’s orderbook has hit USD 10.2 billion mark.

South Korean builders are lagging behind considerably behind their Chinese competitors having collected orders for 170 ships. However, the ships ordered at Korean yards have attracted an investment of USD 11.8 billion, due to the fact that the Big Three builders- DSME, HHI, and SHI- specialize in constructing more technologically advanced ships.

Korean shipbuilders have held the top spot on the global shipbuilding scene for years, in particular during the 2011-2015 period.

Attractive pricing has been one of the key strategic advantages employed by the Chinese shipbuilders, who have also made strides in acquiring the required know-how for the construction of ultra-large containerships.

A testament to this is CMA CGM’s decision to order nine 22,000 TEU giants at China’s  Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS), which raised many eyebrows in the market, including that of the Korean yards.

What is more, these will be the largest containerships to be powered by liquefied natural gas, a major technological undertaking for Chinese shipbuilders as well.

Japan has secured the third place in the ranking, having received newbuildings orders for 97 ships, worth USD 2.6 billion.

The Philippine and Vietnamese shipbuilders are ranked as the fourth and fifth shipbuilding nations respectively based on their newbuilding tally for this year.

Owners have placed orders for a total of 27 ships with Philippine shipyards, while their Vietnamese counterparts won orders for 13 ships, totaling in USD 370 million, according to VesselsValue.