Hanwha Ocean Leads Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Alliance, Signs Warship Design Deal in Washington

Hanwha Ocean is stepping up its role as a bridge between the Korean and U.S. shipbuilding industries, signing a series of agreements in Washington D.C. that cover warship design, workforce training and supply chain development.

At the opening ceremony of the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Cooperation Center on July 23 (local time), the company signed two memorandums of understanding along with a professional services contract with Lloyd's Register Gibbs & Cox, one of the most established warship design firms in the United States. The contract covers the joint design of global strategic transport ships, building on an MOU the two companies signed last April aimed at strengthening naval shipbuilding capacity for the U.S. and its allies.

Under the new agreement, Hanwha Ocean and Gibbs & Cox will jointly develop the design of these vessels while running a shared quality-assurance framework throughout the process. Gibbs & Cox has designed more than 70% of U.S. Navy surface combatants built since World War II, and Hanwha Ocean is positioning the partnership to combine that design pedigree with its own shipbuilding capabilities to offer a proven platform to global buyers, including the U.S. Navy.

The strategic transport ships at the center of the deal are conceived as dual-use platforms — usable for commercial logistics during peacetime and capable of rapidly moving military supplies during emergencies. Hanwha Ocean argues that this combination of national-security value and commercial efficiency could appeal broadly across the global naval shipbuilding market.

Alongside the design contract, Hanwha Ocean signed a separate memorandum of understanding with Hanwha Philippines Shipyard and Delaware County Community College focused on shipbuilding technology education and workforce development, part of a broader push to build human capital for expanded U.S.-based operations.

A Hanwha Ocean official told local media the company is "fully prepared to contribute" to rebuilding the U.S. shipbuilding industry while advancing Korea's own shipbuilding sector, framing the agreements as evidence of the company's deepening defense-industrial footprint in the United States.

The announcements come as Hanwha Ocean continues to expand its international presence in naval shipbuilding, an area where Korean shipbuilders have increasingly sought partnerships with U.S. firms amid Washington's efforts to revitalize domestic shipyard capacity and diversify its naval supply base.