Hanwha Ocean is positioning South Korea and the United States as twin centers for naval shipbuilding and sustainment under the Korea-backed $150 billion “Make American Shipyards Great Again” initiative. The program aims to revive U.S. naval construction and repair capacity while giving Korean firms deeper access to the American market.
At the Korea Investment Week 2025 forum in Seoul, Choi Jeong-hoon, Hanwha’s head of special ship planning, outlined a dual-track approach: developing Busan and South Gyeongsang province into a dedicated maintenance and repair cluster for U.S. Navy vessels, and expanding Philadelphia-based Hanwha Philly Shipyard into a major production base.
“By leveraging more than 1,000 suppliers in Busan and its surrounding area, we aim to create a specialized cluster capable of handling MRO for 11 U.S. Navy vessels annually,” Choi said. Hanwha plans to invest $5 billion to lift the Philadelphia yard’s output from roughly one ship per year to 20, integrating smart and unmanned construction technologies.
US Navy Industrial Shortfalls
The push comes as the U.S. Navy confronts bottlenecks in shipbuilding and maintenance. Navy Secretary John Phelan told House appropriators in May that restoring readiness and rebuilding what he called the “hollowed-out maritime industrial base” is essential to national security.
Building on Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle’s warning of America’s lag in shipbuilding capacity, Lt. Artem Sherbinin, chief technology officer of U.S. Naval Surface Force, noted that the U.S. produces only 0.01 percent of global shipbuilding output, compared with China’s share of more than 50 percent.
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MASGA Uncertainties
Despite its ambitions, the MASGA initiative faces uncertainty. Executives from Hanwha, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries acknowledged in Seoul that political wrangling over how to structure the $150 billion fund — with Washington preferring direct cash contributions and Seoul pushing for loans and guarantees — could slow progress.