HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Hanwha Ocean have intensified competition to expand their presence in the rapidly growing global naval ship market, according to industry officials, Friday.The two Korean shipbuilders have particularly focused on the U.S. naval vessel maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market. They have intensified their efforts to appeal to the Five Eyes, an Anglosphere intelligence alliance consisting of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. This approach extends beyond their established customer base, which includes navies in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.Both companies sent officials in charge of their respective naval ship businesses to Sea Air Space 2024, the largest maritime defense expo in North America which was held in Washington, D.C., between Monday and Wednesday (local time). However, the two firms did not open exhibition booths there. On the sidelines of the event on Tuesday (local time), HD HHI signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with GE Aerospace, an American turbine engine supplier, to develop propulsion systems. They also agreed to cooperate in MRO for exported warships and in a bid for the Royal Australian Navy frigate project.
The Korean firm signed a separate MOU the same day with L3Harris Technologies, an American defense contractor, to win submarine orders from the Royal Canadian Navy.On April 4, HD HHI invited over 20 government officials from nine foreign countries to a signing ceremony for the delivery of a 3,000-ton diesel submarine named after famous Korean independence activist Shin Chae-ho (1880-1936) to the Republic of Korea Navy, which was hosted by the Ministry of National Defense and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration at the shipbuilder’s shipyard in Ulsan.The company was also selected as the preferred bidder last month to jointly build four warships for the Peruvian Navy with the Latin American country’s state-owned shipbuilder.“We will consolidate our status as Korea’s leading naval ship company by securing technologies optimized for warship exports through cooperation with global defense companies,” said 메이저 Joo Won-ho, head of HD HHI’s naval and special ship business unit.