First Hyundai tanker client celebrates 33 years of ties

Sun Enterprise Chairman George S. Livanos, who placed the first shipbuilding order with Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., in 1972, visited Ulsan yesterday to participate in naming a petroleum conveyor ship weighing 73,000 ton ordered by the Greek company.
According to Hyundai Heavy Industries, Mr. Livanos, 70, since ordering that first 260,000 ton oil tanker, has remained a friend of the Hyundai family, particularly with the late founder Chung Ju-yung. In the last 33 years, Sun Enterprise has ordered a total of nine vessels. The most recent vessel was named “Amazon Brilliance.”
At the ceremony, Mr. Livanos, said he entrusted Mr. Chung with the first order because he had been impressed by Mr. Chung’s strong attitude and sense of adventure.
Mr. Livanos noted that when he first met Mr. Chung, the Korean entrepreneur visited him with nothing more than a Korean currency note that featured a drawing of a Geobukseon, a 16th century battleship with a spiked steel roof that resembles the back of a turtle. Mr. Livanos said the Hyundai founder had asked for his trust, citing the fact that Korea had built the world’s first-ever iron-clad ship.
The Greek businessman said he wished to continue the successful cooperative relationship between the companies that has lasted for 33 years.

by Lee Ho-jeong