HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HD HHI) has announced the award of a significant maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) contract for the USNS Alan Shepard, a 41,000-ton dry cargo and ammunition ship serving the US Navy’s 7th Fleet. The deal represents the first US Navy MRO project awarded to the South Korean shipbuilder since the Korean government introduced the “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again” (MASGA) initiative earlier this year.
According to the company, the vessel — measuring 210 meters in length, 32 meters in beam, and 9.4 meters in depth — entered service in 2007 and is named after Rear Admiral Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut to travel into space.
Work is scheduled to commence in September at a berth near the HD Hyundai Mipo dockyard in Ulsan. The overhaul will include propeller cleaning, maintenance of multiple tanks, and a thorough inspection of onboard systems and equipment. Completion is slated for November 2025, after which the ship will be returned to the US Navy for operational deployment.
Joo Won-ho, head of HD HHI’s Naval & Special Ship Business Unit, highlighted the contract’s strategic importance, noting that it symbolizes a new phase of bilateral cooperation in naval shipbuilding. “As Korea’s leading shipbuilder, we will spare no effort to successfully deliver this project and further strengthen cooperation with the US Navy,” he said.
The award is the latest in a series of moves by HD HHI to expand its footprint in the US maritime sector. In April, the company signed a strategic partnership with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), the largest defense shipbuilder in the United States, to pursue technology sharing and joint naval vessel construction. This was followed in June by a collaboration agreement with Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) in the commercial ship sector. Later the same month, HD HHI hosted the Korea–US Shipbuilding Leaders Forum, gathering more than 40 American shipbuilding and marine engineering experts from institutions including the University of Michigan and MIT.
