South Korea’s Hanwha Group has placed a landmark order for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier at its US-based Hanwha Philly Shipyard — the first such export-market-viable vessel to be built in the United States in nearly half a century.
The order, valued at a minimum of $250m, includes an option for a second unit and represents a breakthrough for US ambitions to reenter the global large-scale shipbuilding arena. Delivery of the 174,000 cu m vessel, fitted with a GTT containment system and MEGI propulsion, is slated for the first half of 2028.
While a significant portion of the construction will take place at Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje yard in South Korea, Hanwha Philly Shipyard will be responsible for US regulatory compliance and safety certification. The vessel will not qualify under the Jones Act, but Hanwha said it aims to transfer advanced technology to boost high-value production in Philadelphia over time.
“We’re excited to leverage Hanwha’s world-class shipbuilding prowess to equip American industrial partners with the skills to construct next-generation LNG carriers for the first time in nearly five decades,” said Ryan Lynch, president and CEO of Houston-based Hanwha Shipping.
The move aligns with president Donald Trump’s executive order to boost local shipbuilding capabilities and follows a proposed US Trade Representative policy requiring a percentage of LNG export tonnage to be US-built and -flagged — a controversial proposal given current domestic limitations.
Hanwha acquired Philly Shipyard in late 2023 for $100m, and has since unveiled plans to invest further in turning the site into a modern production hub capable of building up to 10 vessels annually by 2035. The LNG carrier order is seen as both a technological milestone and a political signal of renewed US–Korea industrial collaboration.
Hanwha Philly has delivered nearly half of all Jones Act-compliant commercial ships over the past two decades, but this LNG order places the yard on a new trajectory in terms of complexity and market scope. As the build progresses, Hanwha plans to upskill the US workforce and eventually localise more components of the LNG carrier construction process.
