The Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) are planning to buy nearly 70 ships in 2010, in an effort to help restructure marine companies.
The restructuring fund, worth KRW10tn ($8.9bn), will be injected to take over bad loans of financial companies and assets of companies to be restructured.
According to industry experts, KDB is planning to buy nearly 40 vessels in 2010 starting with five-vessel acquisitions this month, reports asiasis.com.
KAMCO will also buy nearly 29 vessels of which sale has been asked for by ship owners, after having bought 18 vessels last year through a ship fund.
The sale of Korean companies such as Daewoo International, Hynix Semiconductor, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Hyundai Engineering & Construction will proceed early this year.