DistantNews
Support us
Hanwha Ocean sails towards global maritime defense leadership with naval vessel contracts
🇰🇷 South Korea /Conflict & Security

Hanwha Ocean sails towards global maritime defense leadership with naval vessel contracts

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Hanwha Ocean is expanding its role from a commercial shipbuilding company to a maritime defense contractor, securing key projects in naval vessels.
  • The company recently ranked first in the bid for the KDDX next-generation destroyer's detailed design and lead ship construction.
  • Hanwha Ocean's financial performance is supported by high-value commercial ships like LNG carriers, but its future growth is increasingly tied to specialized defense contracts.

Hanwha Ocean is strategically pivoting from its traditional strength in commercial shipbuilding to become a significant player in the global maritime defense sector. While the company's current financial health is buoyed by high-value orders for LNG carriers and other commercial vessels, its future trajectory is increasingly defined by its success in specialized naval projects.

The KDDX is a project to secure six 6,000-ton next-generation Korean destroyers with domestic technology, with a total project cost of approximately 7.8 trillion won.

— Dong-A IlboDescribing the scale and significance of the KDDX project.

In a significant development, Hanwha Ocean recently secured the top position in the bidding process for the KDDX project, South Korea's next-generation destroyer program. The company's proposal for the detailed design and construction of the lead ship received a higher score than competitor HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, although the margin was narrow and involved a controversial security deduction for the rival.

This bid was to determine the contractor for the detailed design and lead ship construction among these.

— Dong-A IlboExplaining the specific stage of the KDDX project Hanwha Ocean is competing for.

This KDDX contract, valued at approximately 7.8 trillion Korean won (about $5.6 billion), is crucial for advancing South Korea's domestic naval technology. Hanwha Ocean's potential success in this project would allow it to build a track record from design to construction and subsequent logistics support, areas where it has historically been perceived as weaker compared to its expertise in submarines.

In terms of technical capability assessment, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries received 73.2383 points, ahead of Hanwha Ocean's 72.5958 points.

— Dong-A IlboDetailing the technical scores in the KDDX bid, highlighting the close competition.

Beyond the KDDX, Hanwha Ocean is actively pursuing international defense contracts. These include maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for U.S. Navy vessels, participation in Canada's Canadian Surface Combatant program, and the U.S. Navy's Next Generation Logistics Ship (NGLS) program. These endeavors signal Hanwha Ocean's ambition to establish itself as a central force in global maritime defense.

However, a security deduction of 1.2 points due to a past illegal acquisition of military secrets case resulted in Hanwha Ocean taking the lead.

— Dong-A IlboExplaining the crucial factor that led to Hanwha Ocean's advantage in the KDDX bid.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog