BUSAN < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(SEJONG = Yonhap News) South Korea on Wednesday broke ground to build its first research and development center specifically dedicated to developing new and indigenous equipment for offshore plants.

The construction for the Offshore Equipment R&D Center began in the country's port city of Busan, 450 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

"The center will be the first of its kind in Asia and fifth in the world to have a multiphase flow laboratory that will significantly contribute to the localization of equipment and technologies for offshore plants," the ministry said in a press release.

A multiphase flow denotes the simultaneous flow of two or more physically distinct and immiscible substances, a common cause of clogged pipes in the oil industry.

South Korea retained its global leadership in building offshore plants in 2013, clenching 33.1 percent of all orders, according to the ministry. However, only about 20 percent of the equipment used are produced locally.

The ministry earlier said the country pays about US$100 million to foreign firms in designing fees alone for each Floating, Production, Storage, Offloading ship it builds.

The new R&D center, set to be completed in early 2016, will enable indigenous designing of large ships and offshore plants, it said.

bdk@yna.co.kr

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Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (Mar. 19, 2014)