Daewoo's German ship order could rise to $450 mln

SEOUL Dec 4 (Reuters) - South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (042660.KS), the world's second-biggest shipbuilder, said on Friday the value of its latest ship order from Germany could rise to $450 million, including an option.

Daewoo said on Thursday it had won a $300 million order from a unit of German utility firm RWE (RWEG.DE) to build two vessels designed to set up offshore wind power facilities.[ID:nSEO209396]

In a final statement, Daewoo said the deal included an option to build another such ship.

RWE plans to deploy new wind turbine installation vessels in its offshore wind farm projects off Europe, Daewoo said.

As orders from the downturn-hit shipping industry dry up, special purpose vessels such as dredgers, research ships and others provide a small active market for top shipyards.

Globally, there are only about 10 operational wind turbine installation vessels, according to Hyundai Securities.

Daewoo also added it was expecting some more ship orders in December, without elaborating. (Reporting by Cheon Jong-woo; Additional reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner) ((jongwoo.cheon@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5665; Reuters Messaging;jongwoo.cheon.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com))