South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), one of the country’s Big Three shipbuilders, has secured an order for eight 12,000 TEU containerships.

The order is worth KRW 817.9 billion (USD 752.72 million), SHI said in a regulatory filing today.

As informed, the ships are set for delivery by May 31, 2021. The Neo-Panamax vessels feature 334 meters in length and 48.4 meters in breadth.

It has been confirmed that Evergreen Marine is behind the order.

The order comes on the back of Evergreen’s announcement from January that it plans to order up to 20 containerships, including eight 11,000 TEU boxships.

Five shipbuilders were in the run for the contract, those being Taiwanese CSBC Corporation, Japanese Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United Corporation, along with their South Korean rivals Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Heavy Industries.

SHI believes the growth in seaborne trade and environmental regulations would lead to more commercial vessel newbuilding orders, helping it achieve USD 8 billion worth orderbook in 2018.

For the time being, the shipbuilder’s total order intake for 2018 stands at KRW 1 trillion, including another recent order for an LNG carrier worth KRW 210 billion.

The financially-troubled shipbuilder started the year with yet another workforce reduction measure aimed at cutting costs and boosting the company’s liquidity. Namely, 30 percent of SHI’s executives have been dismissed, resulting in the reduction of its board staff to 50 members, down from 72.

The company has also reorganized further its business divisions, shrinking the number from 89 to 67 departments.

In addition, the shipbuilder is moving forward with its rights issuing plan worth KRW 1.56 trillion (USD 1.47 billion). The rights offering target has been raised from previous KRW 1.5 trillion and the issuance is set to take place in April 2018.