SEOUL, September 10 (AJP) - Hanwha Ocean, the South Korean shipbuilder once known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, is staking its future on a bold wager: reviving America’s long-dormant shipbuilding industry.
The company announced a $5 billion investment last month to expand its newly acquired Philadelphia shipyard, a project that analysts say underscores both its global ambitions and its growing role in South Korea–U.S. defense and industrial cooperation.
“Hanwha Ocean is making aggressive investments to proactively enter U.S. and global markets, while expanding submarine construction capacity domestically to prepare for future opportunities,” Yang Seung-yoon, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities, told AJP.
Hanwha’s plan calls for two new docks and three additional quays, increasing the yard’s capacity to build liquefied natural gas carriers and eventually naval vessels. Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, visiting the site on Aug. 26, cast the move as an investment not only in infrastructure but also in the workforce.
“We are creating good manufacturing jobs, building the world’s most advanced ships, and fostering a new skilled workforce right here in America,” Kim said. “This is just the beginning.”
The Philadelphia yard, acquired in 2024 for $100 million, has already secured an order from Hanwha Shipping for LNG carriers — the first such contract placed with a U.S. shipyard since the late 1970s. Hanwha Ocean will act as a subcontractor, gradually transferring Korean shipbuilding expertise to the American facility.
The move builds on a broader turnaround for the company, which was pulled from the brink of collapse after the 2009 financial crisis and years of losses.
Since Hanwha Group’s acquisition in 2023, the shipbuilder has restructured around high-value vessels like LNG carriers and submarines, distancing itself from low-margin container ships.
The strategy has begun to pay off.
In July, Hanwha Ocean reported second-quarter revenue of 3.29 trillion won ($2.4 billion), up 30 percent from a year earlier, and an operating profit of 371.7 billion won, reversing losses in 2024. Orders for next-generation vessels — including ammonia-fueled ships and liquefied hydrogen carriers — are adding momentum.
The company is also in final talks with Greece’s GasLog for a 340 billion won LNG carrier contract, according to trade publication Riviera Maritime Media.
For Washington, Hanwha’s entry comes as the United States looks to rebuild its shipbuilding base after decades of decline. For Seoul, it cements the country’s role as an indispensable industrial partner in both commercial and naval construction.
From its origins during the oil shock of the 1970s to its reinvention under new ownership, Hanwha Ocean has weathered decades of upheaval.
Now, as it anchors itself on American shores, the company is positioning Korean know-how at the heart of a U.S. shipbuilding renaissance.
reporter
Kim Dong-young
davekim0807@ajupress.com
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