Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaHANWHA OCEAN
Korean shipbuilders are in high hopes to benefit from U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to allow foreign shipbuilders investing in U.S. shipyards to build up to two vessels in their home countries for delivery to the United States.
The U.S. government reportedly sought information from Korean shipbuilders about their capacity to build warships, which has consequently heightened expectations among Korean yards that they could play a role in accelerating U.S. naval shipbuilding.
Trump on Thursday signed a presidential memorandum aimed at rebuilding the U.S. Navy and the country’s shipbuilding industrial base. Eligible foreign shipbuilders are those that build new shipyards in the United States or acquire ownership or a controlling stake in existing U.S. shipyards, according to the White House.
The United States has generally prohibited the overseas construction of its warships, but the measure would temporarily allow qualifying foreign shipbuilders to build up to two vessels at their home shipyards. Any additional vessels must be built in the United States, and the shipbuilders would also be required to provide their technology to the United States.
Korean shipbuilders are reviewing the White House announcement to determine the conditions for building vessels in Korea.
Industry insiders see Hanwha Ocean as the most immediate potential beneficiary as it has a U.S. shipyard — Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia. Other Korean shipbuilders also have partnerships with U.S. companies, but Hanwha Ocean is the only one that currently meets the White House condition of owning a U.S. shipyard.
Hanwha Group has also recently moved to acquire Austal USA — a major supplier to the U.S. Navy — in a deal of an investment of up to 1.7 trillion won ($1.2 billion). If successful, the acquisition would expand Hanwha’s U.S. production capacity beyond Philly Shipyard in Pennsylvania to Austal’s production and maintenance facilities in Alabama and California.
Hanwha Ocean's Geoje shipyard in South GyeongsangYONHAP
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has also been expanding its U.S. partnerships, including plans to jointly build naval vessels with Huntington Ingalls Industries — the largest U.S. military shipbuilder — but does not yet have production facilities in the country.
The company has, however, continued to explore acquiring a U.S. shipyard, which could eventually make it eligible to build vessels in Korea under the new measure.
The U.S. government previously sent requests for information to Korean shipbuilders to assess their capacity to build combat vessels and replenishment ships, according to the shipbuilding industry.
“Outside China, only Korea and Japan have the technology to build warships, and Japan currently lacks sufficient production capacity,” an industry source said. “That means Korean shipbuilders could solely be the main beneficiaries of this measure.”
BY NAM YOON-SEO [shin.woojin@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
