The Gunsan Shipyard, a facility of significant interest to the South Korean shipbuilding industry, has incorporated offshore wind power projects into its future development plans.
Recently, a group of South Korean entities—including mid-sized shipbuilder HJ Shipbuilding & Construction, JE Ocean Heavy Industries, Myeongun Industrial Development, and wind turbine manufacturer Unison—signed an agreement to repurpose a portion of the Gunsan Shipyard’s idle capacity into a manufacturing base for the offshore wind sector. The plan includes the production of large-scale wind turbines, turbine towers, and offshore transformer stations.
Under the agreement, four South Korean companies—including HJ Shipbuilding & Construction—will utilize approximately 330,000 square meters of idle land at the Gunsan Shipyard, located on South Korea’s west coast, to establish a manufacturing cluster dedicated to the country’s offshore wind power industry.
Specifically, Unison plans to lease a portion of the Gunsan Shipyard site to construct production facilities for large-scale offshore wind turbines. HJ Shipbuilding & Construction will leverage its expertise in shipbuilding and offshore projects to develop production capabilities for wind turbine towers, offshore substations, and other offshore structural components. JE Ocean Heavy Industries will provide the shipyard infrastructure and manufacturing facilities, while Myungwoon Industrial Development will contribute its experience in the development of offshore wind power projects.
According to available data, the Gunsan Shipyard spans an area of 1.8 million square meters and features a 1-million-ton-class dry dock (700 meters in length), a 1,650-ton gantry crane, and 1.4 kilometers of quay frontage, with the capacity to construct two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) simultaneously.
At its peak, the Gunsan Shipyard employed over 6,000 people and had an annual production capacity of approximately 20 vessels. Due to a prolonged downturn in the global shipbuilding market, orders for the shipyard’s core products—bulk carriers and container ships—shrank significantly. This ultimately forced the facility to cease production in 2017. Operations resumed in October 2022, and a sale agreement was signed in June 2026.
Under the sale agreement, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has agreed to sell its Gunsan Shipyard to JE Ocean Heavy Industries for 780 billion KRW. The transaction encompasses all tangible assets associated with the Gunsan Shipyard and is expected to be completed by December 31, 2026. JE Ocean Heavy Industries is a new entity established by Ecoprime Marine Pacific—the largest shareholder of HJ Shipbuilding & Construction—specifically for the purpose of acquiring the Gunsan Shipyard.
It is worth noting that Gunsan Shipyard—currently in the midst of an asset handover process—has already received expressions of interest for 10 tankers, comprising eight 114,000-dwt crude/product oil tankers and two 157,000-dwt crude oil tankers.
Regarding the securing of orders prior to the completion of the acquisition, JE Ocean Heavy Industries noted that the Gunsan Shipyard is not only capable of constructing large vessels but also excels in rapid delivery. As the shipyard currently has no existing order backlog, it offers short lead times and can meet shipowners’ requirements for timely delivery—a key reason why this particular shipowner chose to secure production capacity at the Gunsan Shipyard in advance.
In addition to securing preliminary orders, JE Ocean Heavy Industries is advancing the modernization of its Gunsan Shipyard. According to the current plan, once facility overhauls and upgrades to shipbuilding equipment are complete, the shipyard is set to begin construction in early 2027, with the first newly built vessel scheduled for delivery in 2028.