With the official launch of the Korea-US shipbuilding cooperation project, Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, a subsidiary of South Korea’s largest shipbuilding group HD Hyundai, has successfully undertaken the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) project for the US Navy’s logistics support ships.
On August 6, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries announced that it had recently won a bid for the regular maintenance project of the 41,000-ton logistics support ship Alan Shepard, which belongs to the US Navy’s 7th Fleet. This is the first time HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has won a US MRO project bid, and it is also the first time a South Korean company has won a US MRO project bid since the conclusion of the South Korea-US tariff negotiations agreement.
The USS Alan Shepard, 210 meters long, 32 meters wide, and 9.4 meters high, was commissioned in 2007. Named after Alan Shepard, the first US astronaut and a Navy veteran, MRO work is expected to begin in September 2025 and will include propeller cleaning, tank repairs, and equipment inspections, with completion scheduled for November 2025.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries officials stated, “This MRO order is the first order received after the South Korean government proposed the Korea-US shipbuilding cooperation project ‘MASGA’, and it is of great significance. As a representative shipbuilding company of South Korea, the company will make every effort to successfully complete the MRO work for the US Navy’s logistics support ship.”
It is reported that the scale of the US MRO business is expected to reach 20 trillion won annually. South Korean shipbuilders will fully participate in the US Navy’s MRO business in 2024, with the first order secured by Hanwha Ocean.