Timothy W. Martin of The Wall Street Journal reports that South Korea offers shipbuilding capacity, know-how, and talent that rivals China, whose maritime dominance is growing. Martin writes:
Just a few months ago, U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro admired a new South Korean warship built in this port city at the world’s largest shipyard. Del Toro was on a trip hoping to sell top officials at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and others on a simple pitch.
“Invest in America,” Del Toro told them.
Having fallen far behind China in shipbuilding, the U.S. is turning to allies in South Korea and Japan for the turnaround strategy. Key to that effort is attracting companies such as Hyundai that go head-to-head with the Chinese and can do everything America lacks: making ships quickly at low costs with modern techniques.
China’s naval battle-force ship fleet now outnumbers the U.S.’s, having ramped up production at state-subsidized shipyards that build all types of vessels. A majority of the world’s ship output last year came from China. Coming in at No. 2 was South Korea, with roughly a quarter of global deliveries.[…]
Hyundai Heavy’s shares are up more than 50% this year. It estimates revenue will grow by about 11% in 2024 from the prior year, hitting about 13.3 trillion won, or roughly $10 billion. The naval business is expected to represent about 8% of overall sales this year.
By the end of the decade, the company wants to triple revenue earned from the construction and maintenance of naval vessels—including for the U.S.
“We can build ships cheaper and faster than anyone else in the world,” said Jeong Woo-maan, who heads planning for Hyundai’s naval business unit.
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