HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HD HHI) will conduct regular overhaul on the USNS Alan Shepard, a 41,000-ton dry cargo ship, in the first major Korea-U.S. shipbuilding deal since the two countries’ bilateral tariff pact.

The world’s largest shipbuilder announced on Wednesday that it had been awarded a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) contract to maintain the vessel, its first major deal with the U.S. Navy. The USNS Alan Shepard, assigned to the 7th Fleet, is 210 meters (689 feet) long, 32 meters wide and 9.4 meters tall and was commissioned in 2007. The term and value of the contract have not been disclosed.

Overhaul will begin at a quay near the HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Ulsan in September. The work will include propeller cleaning, tank inspection and equipment maintenance, with the vessel scheduled to be shipped back to the U.S. Navy in November.

The deal serves as redemption for HD Hyundai, whose Korean rival, Hanwha Ocean, has already carried out three MRO contracts with the U.S. Navy.

HD HHI has already bid for two U.S. Navy MRO projects this year: It lost one to a Singaporean shipbuilder and the other, for the Charles Drew cargo ship, to Hanwha Ocean. A source in the shipbuilding industry said, on condition of anonymity, that the company had “leveraged price competitiveness and its proven track record for meeting order deadlines” to close the third deal.

HD HHI has ramped up construction partnerships with a number of U.S. shipbuilding companies this year, including Huntington Ingalls Industries in April and Edison Chouest Offshore in June.
In late June, the company also hosted a forum on Korean and U.S. shipbuilding alliances, which brought together some 40 shipbuilding and marine engineering experts from institutions like the University of Michigan and MIT.

The new project falls under the Korean government’s proposed $150 billion MASGA (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again) initiative with the stated aim to “revitalize U.S. shipbuilding” through strategic investment and cooperation between the two nations.

“This MRO contract is meaningful in that it’s the first deal secured since the Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation project MASGA was proposed,” Joo Won-ho, head of HD HHI’s Naval and Special Ship Business Unit, said in a statement. “We will make sure to successfully complete this project for the U.S. Navy as Korea’s leading shipbuilder.”
Source: Korea JoongAng Daily