Newbuild order intakes of South Korean shipbuilders have increased by 195% to 1.54m cgt in Q1 2010, compared to the same period a year earlier.

The shipbuilders have shared 51.5% of the total global orders taking them to the top of the intake order list, according to the Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Korea Shipbuilders’ Association.

In the same period Chinese yards contracted 796,000 cgt of orders accounting for 26.6% of the global order.

In the first quarter European builders won 142,000 cgt (4.7%) while Japanese yards secured 105,000 cgt (4.5%) and other nations 411,000 cgt (13.7%).