Report: HD Hyundai in Talks to Buy U.S. Shipyard
South Korea’s largest shipbuilder is reportedly in discussions with “multiple companies” exploring the acquisition of a U.S. shipyard. It would follow the 2024 acquisition of Philly Shipyard by competitor Hanwha and HD Hyundai’s growth strategy, expanding its international operations.
News of the potential acquisition of a U.S. shipyard came during an exclusive interview with a company executive by Reuters. They declined to name the companies involved in the talks or to reveal how advanced the discussions might have progressed.
HD Hyundai cited the strong opportunities emerging in the United States as it anticipates the Trump administration will accelerate naval shipbuilding to catch up with the Chinese. U.S. naval shipbuilding is currently dominated by a few major companies, including HII (Huntington Ingalls Industries), General Dynamics, Fincantieri Marine, Austal, and others. U.S. law requires warships to be built at U.S. yards, although there is talk in the U.S. Congress to ease some restrictions so that the Korean yards might build some vessels.
HD Hyundai, in addition to its commercial operations, is expanding its construction of naval vessels. The company this week christened the second ship of South Korea’s 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer program at its Ulsan shipyard. Hyundai has been adapting the designs and building Aegis destroyers since 2008. It has a technical cooperation agreement (MOU) with Huntington Ingalls for the Aegis class and has also built warships for export to the Philippines, New Zealand, and a new program for Peru.
The U.S. is viewed as the best market opportunity, and HD Hyundai has said it plans to lead South Korea’s "Make America Shipbuilding Great Again" (MASGA) initiative. South Korea pledged to invest $150 million into U.S. shipbuilding during its trade negotiations with the United States.
Among the challenges mentioned during the Reuters interview is a shortage of skilled American workers and high attrition rates. Reuters reports the company said it could take three to five years to train U.S. workers. Also, it raised U.S. immigration and visa policy based on the recent raid of the Hyundai Motor’s battery plant in Georgia, which saw 475 Korean workers detained and many forced to return to Korea. HD Hyundai would also require government approval to acquire a U.S. shipyard.
HD Hyundai has been moving aggressively to expand its international operations as part of a plan that targets $2.2 billion in revenues by 2035 from building U.S. warships, reports Reuters. So far this year, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering has received orders for a total of 90 ships worth $12.21 billion USD, achieving nearly 68 percent of its annual order target of $18.05 billion.
The company announced a new partnership with U.S.-based Edison Chouest Offshore in June 2025 that they said would focus on building containerships. It also formed a new partnership in India and has been rumored to be a bidder for a shipyard development project in Morocco. At the beginning of September, the company launched shipbuilding operations in the Philippines for commercial ships.