South Korea’s four major shipbuilders are forecast to see a 31% growth in new orders this year, according to a top Japanese investment bank.

Nomura’s shipbuilding analysts Jaehyung Choi expects the four big shipbuilders to secure newbuildings worth $28.6bn in 2019.

“Despite 29% year-on-year new order growth in 2018 and the recent oil price correction, we expect solid growth momentum to continue in 2019,” said Choi.