Hanwha Group has unveiled a $5bn expansion plan for Hanwha Philly Shipyard as well as ordering 10 tankers to be built in Philadelphia, in a landmark moment for Korea-US industrial cooperation designed to revive American shipbuilding.
The announcement was made on Tuesday at the christening of the State of Maine, the third National Security Multi-mission Vessel built for the US Maritime Administration at the Philadelphia facility. South Korean president Lee Jae Myung attended the ceremony, fresh from his first summit with US president Donald Trump in Washington a day earlier.
Hanwha, which acquired Philly Shipyard for $100m last year, said the new funding will be used to install two additional docks and three quays, boosting annual production capacity from two vessels to as many as 20. A new block assembly facility is also under consideration. Longer term, the yard aims to build LNG carriers, naval modules and blocks, and eventually full naval vessels in the US.
Hanwha Shipping, the shipbuilder’s shipowning subsidiary, revealed it has placed orders for 10 mid-sized oil and chemical tankers at Philly, with first deliveries due in 2029. The company has also exercised an option for a second LNG carrier — the first time in nearly 50 years that such vessels will be partially built in the US.
“The Make American Shipbuilding Great Again project that I suggested to President Trump was not just about a vision to build large warships and state-of-the-art vessels,” said the Korean president. “It’s a grand vision to revive a lost dream. As the shipbuilding industry represented growth, opportunity, dreams and hope for young Koreans in our country’s history, Philly Shipyard will be remembered in the same way by young Americans.”
Senior management from other Korean major yards attended Lee’s trip to the US, with shipbuilding very much a tool in ongoing trade talks.
HD Hyundai’s announced a $2bn joint investment fund with Cerberus to finance US naval and offshore newbuilds. The two companies are already working together at a yard in the Philippines. Earlier this summer, South Korea’s largest shipbuilder said it will work with Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) to get mid-sized LNG dual-fuel containerships built in the US by 2028. In April, HD Hyundai signed an MOU with Huntington Ingalls Industries, the largest defence shipbuilder in the US, to jointly advance productivity and high-tech shipbuilding practices. It also entered a supply chain partnership with Fairbanks Morse Defense and signed an education-focused MOU last year with the University of Michigan and Seoul National University to cultivate talent in the shipbuilding sector.
Samsung Heavy Industries, meanwhile, announced this week it is pairing with Oregon-based Vigor Marine to modernise repair yards and expand naval MRO capacity on the US west coast.
