HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has successfully secured a maintenance, repair, and overhaul contract for a logistics support vessel operated by the United States Navy. This marks the first U.S. Navy MRO contract following the South Korean government’s proposal of the“Make American Shipbuilding Great Again,” known as MASGA, a Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation initiative. With this contract, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries joins Hanwha Ocean, which has secured three such contracts since last year, in entering the U.S. Navy’s MRO market.

The company announced on Aug. 6 that it has recently secured a periodic maintenance contract for the U.S. Navy’s 41,000-ton logistics support vessel USNS Alan Shepard, which is affiliated with the Seventh Fleet.

The Alan Shepard, which was commissioned in 2007, measures 210 meters in length, 32 meters in width, and 9.4 meters in height. It is named after Alan Shepard, a former naval officer who became the first American astronaut in space.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will begin maintenance work in September at a dockside facility near its HD Hyundai Mipo shipyard in Ulsan. The scope of work includes propeller cleaning, maintenance of various tanks, and equipment inspections. The vessel is scheduled to be delivered to the U.S. Navy in November upon completion.

Joo Won-ho, Head of the Special Ship Business Unit at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, said, “This MRO contract is highly meaningful as it is the first awarded since the government proposed the MASGA. As a leading shipbuilding company representing the Republic of Korea, we are fully committed to completing this U.S. Navy logistics support ship MRO project successfully.”

In April, HD Hyundai signed a partnership agreement with Huntington Ingalls Industries, the largest defense shipbuilder in the U.S., and in June with Edison Chouest Offshore, a U.S. shipbuilding group, for technical cooperation and joint construction in both military and commercial vessels. At the end of June, the company also hosted the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Cooperation Expert Forum, attended by over 40 American naval architecture and ocean engineering experts, including faculty from the University of Michigan and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Rather than pursuing direct market entry through shipyard acquisitions, HD Hyundai plans to expand its presence in the U.S. shipbuilding market by forming strategic alliances with local companies.

Source:Business Korea