Chung Ki-sun, executive vice chairman of HD Hyundai, pose for photos with Dino Chouest, CEO of Edison Chouest Offshore, during the latter’s visit to Korea on July 22 and 23.

HD Hyundai explored the prospect of building container vessels in an on-site discussion with Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO), a Louisiana-based shipbuilder, as part of efforts to secure U.S. shipbuilding contracts amid deepening bilateral cooperation in the sector.

The ECO delegation, a team of 10 key executives including CEO Dino Chouest, visited Korea from Tuesday to Wednesday, during which it toured HD Hyundai’s Global R&D Center, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Mipo to view the conglomerate’s ongoing projects.

ECO operates 18 commercial shipyards across the country. The company has built and currently operates a fleet of 300 offshore support vessels.

The U.S. company’s delegation was introduced to HD Hyundai-built vessels currently in service around the world, including the Korean company’s automation solutions and robotic welding technologies in use at its shipyards.

HD Hyundai Executive Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun and Chouest discussed expanding two companies’ partnership into additional areas “beyond the joint construction of container vessels.”

Executives of HD Hyundai and Edison Chouest Offshore pose for photos during the latter company delegation’s visit to Korea on July 22 and 23. At sixth from the right is Chung Ki-sun, executive vice chairman of HD Hyundai, followed by Dino Chouest, CEO of Edison Chouest Offshore.

The two companies first signed a memorandum of understanding last month to jointly build medium-sized container vessels at ECO’s shipyard by 2028. The two also vowed to expand the scope of cooperation beyond ship types to include port cranes.

“HD Hyundai fully supports efforts to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry,” Chung said. “The joint shipbuilding project between the two companies in the United States will serve as an excellent example of Korea-U.S. cooperation in the shipbuilding sector.”

The engineers from ECO will remain for another week to learn advanced shipbuilding techniques of HD Hyundai and participate in a technical exchange workshop where they will discuss detailed plans for joint shipbuilding.
Source: Korea Joongang Daily