A number one South Korean shipyard has received a restore contract for a US Navy auxiliary provide ship as the ocean service seems to be to allies for help in sustaining the fleet.South Korea is a distinguished allied shipbuilding energy within the Pacific, and the US has been exploring nearer cooperation that might present solutions because the Navy takes a tough take a look at the American yards setting up and doing upkeep on its ships.On Wednesday, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. introduced that it had secured a upkeep, restore, and overhaul contract for the US Navy Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Alan Shepard. The overhaul will start in September close to HD Hyundai’s headquarters in Ulsan on the southeastern coast.The deliberate restore work will embody propeller cleansing, tank upkeep, and inspections of onboard tools. Alan Shepard is anticipated to be delivered to the Navy in November. The Navy did not instantly reply to Enterprise Insider’s request for touch upon the upcoming work.
The USNS Alan Shepard will likely be delivered to the Navy after its repairs in November 2025.
US Navy picture by Mass Communication Specialist third Class Andrew Langholf
The contracted work is “extremely vital,” Joon Gained-ho, head of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Naval and Particular Ship Enterprise Unit mentioned, per the corporate’s assertion, as a result of it marks the primary contract following the South Korean authorities’s proposal for a joint shipbuilding initiative with the US — MAGSA, or Make American Shipbuilding Nice Once more.South Korean officers proposed this MASGA initiative late final month as Washington and Seoul negotiated and navigated tariffs. The $150 billion partnership will likely be led by South Korean shipbuilders and assist strengthen the US shipbuilding business, together with setting up new yards, supporting employee coaching, and aiding with ship upkeep.President Donald Trump and another US officers have mentioned that constructing extra Navy ships and fixing broader shipbuilding and upkeep issues are high priorities, though questions stay on how the administration plans to pursue that.
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Earlier than the MASGA initiative, HD Hyundai was already working carefully with American shipbuilders, together with a strategic partnership settlement with Huntington Ingalls Industries, amongst different collaborations within the US business sector.
South Korean corporations are working with US shipbuilders in main collaborative initiatives and applications.
US Navy/Courtesy HII by Matt Hildreth
Different South Korean shipbuilders have additionally been serving to with Navy restore and upkeep. In March, Hanwha Ocean completed up a daily overhaul on the USNS Wally Schirra, one other Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship. The restore work marked the primary time {that a} South Korean yard had bid on and received a daily overhaul contract of that scale for that kind of vessel.Within the MASGA proposal, South Korea’s high shipbuilders — HD Hyundai, Hanwha Ocean, and Samsung Heavy Industries — agreed to cooperate on exploring find out how to bolster America’s business.Whereas US allies and companions have been concerned in serving to preserve the Navy’s fleet earlier than, there was a ramp-up in cooperation. US specialists and officers have famous that Indo-Pacific allies, particularly South Korea and Japan, have strong shipbuilding industries that will have solutions to Navy issues.Some potential options noticed in allied shipyards embody higher in-house employee coaching and more practical and environment friendly ship designs that scale back the labor hours wanted to assemble, preserve, and modernize vessels. Some fashions from exterior the protection sector might also be relevant to navy shipbuilding.
The USNS Wally Schirra, a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship that accomplished main upkeep in South Korea earlier this yr.
Courtesy picture
Navy leaders have acknowledged that the service can be taught from the shipbuilding capabilities of its allies and companions. In April 2024, then-Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro visited a South Korean shipyard and mentioned he was “floored on the stage of digitization and real-time monitoring of shipbuilding progress, with available info all the way down to particular person items of inventory materials.”Throughout that journey, Del Toro inspired South Korean corporations to put money into business and naval shipbuilding services within the US, as many had been “largely intact and dormant” and “ripe for redevelopment.”The present Navy secretary, John Phelan, visited each Hanwha Ocean Shipbuilding and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in April and emphasised the worth of South Korean yards in serving to the US Navy preserve readiness within the Indo-Pacific, a precedence theater the place competitors with China, a shipbuilding juggernaut with a considerable fleet, is a key focus for the Division of Protection.”Leveraging the experience of those extremely succesful shipyards permits well timed upkeep and repairs for our vessels to function at peak efficiency,” Phelan mentioned. “This stage of large-scale restore and upkeep functionality strengthens our fight readiness, sustains ahead deployed operational presence, and reinforces regional stability.”
China’s business shipbuilding capability overshadows the remainder of world.
Costfoto/NurPhoto by way of Getty Photos
Along with the Wally Schirra, a South Korean yard has additionally labored on USNS Yukon, which is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler.These discussions come because the Navy struggles to handle long-standing points in the way it builds and maintains its fleet.There are backlogs in upkeep, and main shipbuilding applications have confronted vital delays and overrun prices resulting from a variety of things, comparable to workforce points, restricted shipyard capability, provide chain disruptions, and logistics and timeline issues.The issues have raised considerations in Washington about fleet measurement and readiness because the US focuses on deterring and getting ready to struggle a possible battle with an adversary like China. The Navy has mentioned that South Korean shipbuilding is an asset to the US as China’s shipbuilding business dominates the worldwide market and pumps out navy vessels at an alarming price.
