HJ Shipbuilding & Construction said on the 6th that it has passed the final hurdle for signing a master ship repair agreement (MSRA) with the U.S. Navy.
An MSRA is an agreement signed between the U.S. government and a shipbuilding company for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of U.S. Navy vessels. A shipyard that signs this agreement is qualified to bid on MRO projects for U.S. Navy vessels and can also bid on MRO projects for U.S. Navy warships, where security rules are strictly applied.
The port security assessment (PA), the last hurdle before signing the MSRA, was conducted the previous day at the Yeongdo Shipyard in Busan. An evaluation team composed of security experts from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service comprehensively inspected port terror response, security rules, facility control, surveillance systems and technical information management.
The evaluation team heard from HJ Shipbuilding & Construction that day about the status of Yeongdo Shipyard facilities, records of building Republic of Korea Navy vessels and Korea Coast Guard patrol ships, MRO project performance, in-house regulations related to security and actual operating conditions, and is said to have judged Yeongdo Shipyard the optimal shipyard to pursue the U.S. Navy's MRO projects.
Accordingly, HJ Shipbuilding & Construction is expected to be able to sign a master ship repair agreement with the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) as early as this month. HJ Shipbuilding & Construction already signed in Dec. last year a midlife maintenance contract for the U.S. Navy's 40,000-ton logistics support ship "USNS Amelia Earhart."
An HJ Shipbuilding & Construction official said, "Once the master ship repair agreement is signed, related security procedures will be streamlined, and we will be able to make a full-fledged entry into MRO projects for U.S. Navy warships that require strict information control."