HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has secured a contract for the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of a U.S. Navy auxiliary ship — marking the first since the Korean government’s “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA)” proposal.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries won the scheduled overhaul project for the USNS Alan Shepard, a 41,000-ton dry cargo and ammunition ship assigned to the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet.
The USNS Alan Shepard, measuring 210 meters in length, 32 meters in beam, and 9.4 meters in depth, entered service in 2007 and was named after Alan Shepard, a Rear Admiral and the first American astronaut to travel into space.
Starting in September, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will carry out the overhaul at a berth near HD Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan. The work scope includes propeller cleaning, maintenance of various tanks and inspection of onboard equipment. Upon completion, the vessel is scheduled to be delivered to the U.S. Navy in November 2025.
This year, HD Hyundai has advanced multiple initiatives to further reinforce Korea-U.S. cooperation in shipbuilding. In April, the company signed a strategic partnership agreement with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), the largest defense shipbuilder in the U.S., for technological cooperation and joint construction in the naval ship sector.
In June, the company launched a strategic collaboration with U.S. shipbuilding group Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) in the commercial ship sector. Later that month, HD Hyundai hosted the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Leaders Forum, bringing together over 40 U.S. shipbuilding and marine engineering specialists from institutions such as the University of Michigan and MIT.