HD Hyundai Group will sign its first memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to the Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation project “MASGA (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again).”

On the 25th, according to the investment banking (IB) and shipbuilding industries, HD Hyundai Group plans to sign an MOU with Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the U.S.-based private equity fund (PEF) Cerberus Frontier to strengthen collaboration. The agreement ceremony is expected to take place in conjunction with a summit meeting between President Lee Jae-myung and U.S. President Donald Trump on the 25th.

HD Hyundai Group plans to enhance Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation starting with this MOU. Cerberus Frontier, participating in the MOU, owns the Subic shipyard in the Philippines, and currently HD Hyundai is not only renting facilities for ship construction but also pursuing maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) for U.S. naval vessels.

In particular, it has been reported that HD Hyundai Group is also keeping open the possibility of investing in a local shipyard in the United States. HD Hyundai Group has previously committed to jointly constructing LNG dual-fuel container ships with Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) and promised collaboration with Huntington Ingalls for cost and delivery improvements, thereby enhancing its cooperation with the U.S. shipbuilding industry.

The government also utilized MASGA as a key leverage in previous trade negotiations with the United States. They plan to inject $1,500 into a shipbuilding cooperation fund through MASGA, which accounts for one-third of investments in the U.S.

President Lee arrived in the United States and will hold a summit meeting with President Trump. He is scheduled to visit the Philadelphia shipyard in Pennsylvania on the 26th (local time). The Philadelphia shipyard is a local shipbuilding company acquired by Hanwha Ocean.

Hanwha Ocean also plans to conduct additional investments of $70 million (approximately 95 billion won) in the Philadelphia shipyard in line with the Korea-U.S. summit, aiming to increase the shipyard’s annual production capacity to around 10 vessels by 2035.
Source: CHOSUNBIZ