South Korea and the United States on Thursday opened a joint shipbuilding cooperation center in Washington, formally launching the operational hub for a $150 billion Korean investment initiative aimed at rebuilding U.S. commercial and naval shipbuilding capacity.
The Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Center (KUSPC) will serve as the coordinating body for the Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA) initiative, overseeing joint research, workforce training and supply chain development tied to South Korea's investment commitment made under last year's bilateral trade agreement. The center's establishment follows a memorandum of understanding signed by the two governments in May.
Alongside the opening, the two countries signed 15 MOUs across four categories: formation of a "Team Korea" consortium, supply chain cooperation, workforce development and joint technology research. More than 30 shipbuilders, defense contractors, technology firms, universities and research institutions took part in the signings.
Team Korea consists of the KUSPC, South Korea's three largest shipbuilders — HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean, and Samsung Heavy Industries — along with the Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Association and the Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering. The group is tasked with supporting U.S. shipyard modernization and building out a broader domestic supply base for ship equipment and components.
COMMERCIAL PROJECTS ANNOUNCED
Several Korean yards used the occasion to detail specific U.S.-facing projects.
Hanwha Ocean signed a professional services contract with Leidos Gibbs & Cox to jointly design a global fast sealift vessel — a dual-use ship intended to carry commercial cargo in peacetime and military cargo during emergencies. Hanwha also signed separate agreements covering U.S. workforce training and the establishment of domestic supply chains, and said it will work with the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia to recruit regional manufacturers into the shipbuilding supply chain.
HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering signed a contract with Siemens Digital Industries Software to jointly develop a next-generation marine platform linking ship design, production, procurement, quality control and maintenance in a shared 3D data environment, with plans to apply the system toward virtual shipyards and automated production facilities.
HD Hyundai Samho separately secured a contract to supply four port cranes to Washington United Terminals at the Port of Tacoma, Wash.
Samsung Heavy Industries, working with Louisiana-based Conrad Shipyard, received approval in principle from the American Bureau of Shipping for a jointly developed 12,000-cu.-meter LNG bunkering vessel aimed at the U.S. market.
Cecil Hernandez, president and CEO of Conrad Shipyard, said, “By collaborating with global technology leaders while building capability here in the United States, we continue to strengthen American shipbuilding and advance practical solutions for the evolving needs of the maritime industry.”
Samsung Heavy also signed an agreement with autonomous vessel developer Saronic Technologies covering unmanned surface vessels, autonomous navigation and robotic shipyard automation, and reached a separate deal with Vigor Marine Group to establish a training center for welders and painters, including a virtual-reality welding education system.
“Rebuilding America’s maritime strength requires both world-class technology and the industrial muscle to produce it at scale here at home,” said Dino Mavrookas, co-founder and CEO of Saronic. “Together, we will focus on accelerating the reindustrialization of American shipbuilding, training the workforce of the future, and delivering differentiated, autonomy-capable vessels for both government and commercial applications.”
Vigor CEO Francesco Valente said, “Workforce remains one of the key challenges our industry faces, and partnering with SHI both supports more pathways into maritime trades and adds the important layer of new technology. Our industry is ever changing, and expertise in newer technologies will enable us to make our work safer and find efficiencies that help us better support our customer’s mission.”
The two governments also launched a five-year, 120 billion won ($82 million) joint research program spanning eight areas, including AI-assisted ship design, autonomous welding, heavy-block transportation, yard automation and autonomous navigation.
SHIPS, NOT TALK
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told attendees the initiative would be judged on output, not paperwork. "The center is not an outcome. It is the most important work that produces the outcome of how many ships are built," he said, adding that Washington is "committed to removing barriers to production" and pledging Commerce Department help clearing regulatory obstacles for Korean firms building U.S. operations.
South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said Korean firms are prepared to deliver quickly. "We will build naval vessels. We will build LNG carriers, and we will build them here in [the United States]," he said, calling on Washington to provide continued orders, incentives and regulatory relief to support the investment.
ABS Chairman and CEO John McDonald, whose organization is participating in the joint research program, said the collaboration "creates a strong foundation for collaboration that can support safer, smarter shipbuilding in both countries."
U.S. Ambassador to Korea Michelle Steel and Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Kang Kyung-wha also attended the ceremony, along with representatives of Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration, which said it will pursue opportunities to bring Korean suppliers into U.S. naval shipbuilding and defense supply chains.
