Seoul: Global ship orders experienced a significant drop in September compared to the same month last year, with South Korea and China claiming the majority of contracts, according to industry data released on Friday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, London-based market tracker Clarkson Research Services reported that global new shipbuilding orders reached 3.5 million compensated gross tons (CGT), or 123 vessels, last month. This marks a 44 percent decrease from September of the previous year. South Korean shipbuilders secured orders amounting to 1.35 million CGT for 33 ships, representing 39 percent of the total orders. Chinese shipyards slightly outpaced them with a 40 percent share, totaling 1.42 million CGT for 69 ships.

The data revealed that the average CGT per vessel was 41,000 for South Korea and 21,000 for China. This suggests that South Korean shipbuilders managed to obtain nearly double the high-value-added ship orders compared to their Chinese competitors.

As of the end of September, the global order backlog was recorded at 165.99 million CGT, a decrease of 70,000 CGT from the previous month. China maintained a dominant position with 61 percent of the total order backlog, while South Korea followed with 20 percent.