Struggling Hyundai Heavy lays off quite a few execs

Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder by sales, said Sunday it has cut a third of its executives in its offshore and engineering division as new orders have dried up.

The move came a month before the shipbuilder is due to suspend work at its offshore facilities shipyard. The suspension scheduled for August is the first in 35 years.

Hyundai Heavy has lost out to Chinese and Singaporean rivals in offshore projects in recent years due to its higher costs. The labor costs of Chinese and Singaporean shipbuilders are roughly a third of Hyundai Heavy’s.