Defence Minsitry confident new tanker will be delivered on time

1:24 pm on 1 January 2018

The Defence Ministry says it is not concerned about the money woes of the company building its new half-billion-dollar ship.

A worker stands at Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan.

A worker stands at Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan. Photo: AFP

The share price of the South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries plunged nearly a third recently after it said it needs to raise $US1.2 billion in working capital.

But a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said it had no concerns about the construction of the HMNZS Aotearoa.

The spokesperson said all construction milestones had been achieved so far and Hyundai was the world's largest shipbuilder.

The Aotearoa, a 24,000 tonne tanker, is due to be delivered in January 2020, at a cost of $493 million.