HD Hyundai, Samsung Heavy Industries sign US partnerships in wake of Lee-Trump summit in Washington
Leading Korean shipbuilders HD Hyundai and Samsung Heavy Industries have taken the first steps in a $150 billion shipbuilding cooperation investment between Seoul and Washington, also known as Make American Shipbuilding Great Again, or MASGA.
HD Hyundai announced Tuesday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Cerberus Capital, an American multinational alternative investment firm, and the Korea Development Bank in Washington. The MOU establishes a multi-billion-dollar Korea-US joint maritime investment program, signifying the first milestone in the MASGA initiative.
According to HD Hyundai, the investment program aims to revitalize and enhance the maritime capabilities of the US and its allied nations, including shipbuilding, maritime logistics infrastructure and advanced maritime technologies. Major areas of investment involve acquiring and modernizing US shipyards, investing in equipment and component suppliers, and developing cutting-edge shipbuilding technologies.
“We believe that our partnership with Cerberus Capital will not only provide tangible support for MASGA, which aims to revitalize the US shipbuilding industry, but also create new markets and growth opportunities for Korean shipbuilders,” said HD Hyundai Executive Vice Chair Chung Ki-sun.
“Leveraging our proven expertise and digital capabilities, HD Hyundai will support the modernization of US shipbuilding and work with both nations to shape a new chapter in the global shipbuilding industry.”
HD Hyundai plans to support the successful management of the investment program by participating in the initiative as both an anchor investor and technical advisor based on its decadeslong experience in the shipbuilding and maritime sectors.
Samsung Heavy Industries said Tuesday that it had inked an MOU with Vigor Marine Group, a US shipyard operator specializing in maintenance, repair and overhaul, or MRO, that works with the US Navy, to explore cooperation in the US maritime sector.
Under the newly signed strategic partnership, Samsung Heavy Industries will actively take part in the MRO projects of the US Navy and US Military Sealift Command’s auxiliary ships based on its advanced shipbuilding and maritime technologies, decades of operational experience and optimized facilities.
Building on the results of joint MRO projects with the US authorities, Samsung Heavy Industries hopes to expand the scope of its US cooperation to include commercial and special ships in the future, as well as jointly build ships with US partner shipyards to contribute to the US shipbuilding industry's reinvigoration efforts.
“We will offer world-class MRO services,” said Choi Sung-an, CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries. “Based on the following results, we will do our best to lay the groundworks to build American commercial and support ships.”
hwkan@heraldcorp.com
