HD Hyundai Group will sign its first memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to the Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation project named "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again" (MASGA).
According to investment banking (IB) and shipbuilding industries on the 25th, HD Hyundai Group is set to sign an MOU with Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Cerberus Capital, a U.S. private equity fund, to strengthen cooperation. The agreement ceremony is expected to coincide with a summit meeting between President Lee Jae-myung and U.S. President Donald Trump on the 25th.
HD Hyundai Group plans to strengthen Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation starting with this MOU. Cerberus, one of the MOU participants, owns the Subic shipyard in the Philippines, and HD Hyundai is currently pursuing not only shipbuilding using the facilities but also maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) of U.S. vessels.
In particular, HD Hyundai Group is said to be keeping the possibility of investment in local U.S. shipyards open. The group has strengthened cooperation with the U.S. shipbuilding industry by agreeing to jointly construct LNG dual-fuel container ships with Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) and promising collaboration to improve expenses and lead times with Huntington Ingalls.
The government previously leveraged MASGA as a key leverage point in trade negotiations with the U.S. It has decided to invest $150 billion, approximately one-third of the investments in the U.S., into the establishment of a shipbuilding cooperation fund through MASGA.
President Lee arrives in the U.S. and will meet with President Trump. He is scheduled to visit the Philly shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 26th (local time). The Philly shipyard is a local shipbuilding company acquired by Hanwha Ocean.
Hanwha Ocean will also make an additional investment of $70 million (approximately 95 billion won) in line with the Korea-U.S. summit, with plans to increase the Philly shipyard's annual production capacity to around 10 vessels by 2035.