SEOUL, Nov 25 (Reuters) - South Korean shipbuilders expect to post combined exports of US$53 billion next year, up 23 percent from 2008, an industry association said on Tuesday.

The estimate would make shipbuilders the nation's top exporter, replacing electronics makers and contributing more than 10 percent of total exports, the Korea Shipbuilders' Association said in a release.

South Korea is home to the world's top three dockyards, Hyundai Heavy , Samsung Heavy and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

"Our shipbuilders are financially healthy and no existing contracts have been canceled," said the association, stressing the recent bleak industrial outlook due to the U.S. financial crisis was overdone.

It said that local shipbuilders who have secured orders keeping their dockyards busy for three to four years would
continue to increase their contributions to exports.