HD Hyundai and Siemens ink pact to ‘boost’ innovation in US shipbuilding

South Korea’s shipbuilding heavyweight HD Hyundai and German multinational technology conglomerate Siemens have penned an agreement to speed up the digitalization and modernization of the United States’ vessel construction industry.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that the two companies have signed, HD Hyundai and Siemens will reportedly work to combine digital and automation technologies to build smart shipyards and ‘reinforce’ shipbuilding capabilities in the U.S.

To be specific, according to officials from HD Hyundai, the goal of the collaboration would be to improve the overall competitiveness of the U.S. shipbuilding industry by ‘enhancing’ design quality, reducing costs and lowering manufacturing risks.

As explained further, the partnership will strive to drive gradual technological innovation across the vessel construction sector by accelerating the digital transformation of ship design, automating block assembly and installation processes, and polishing production, quality and process management via data-driven solutions.

In addition to this, per HD Hyundai, the bipartite initiative will also set up workforce development and specialized engineering programs that will build upon the South Korean shipbuilding giant’s existing academic partnerships with American universities such as the University of Michigan (UM) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

As informed, HD Hyundai and Siemens have also shaken hands on exploring opportunities for additional business cooperation and partnership expansion.

The United States builds a very small number of large, oceangoing commercial vessels per year, with the number estimated to be in the single digits, namely around five or six units annually. This is significantly lower than any other major shipbuilding nation, like China, which constructs over a thousand per annum, as well as South Korea, which builds hundreds, and Japan, the world’s third-largest player in this field.

As part of its effort to revamp its maritime industry as well as the shipbuilding sector, under the administration of the current President Donald Trump, the U.S. has been pouring efforts into boosting its capacity. The approach has been multipronged, with partnerships with major companies as well as certain governments playing a particularly important role in this vision.

At the end of July this year, the government of South Korea signed a ‘landmark’ bilateral trade agreement with Washington, encompassing $350 billion, of which $150 billion was said to have been allocated toward the United States vessel construction rejuvenation fund. In return, the U.S. pledged a lower tariff rate of 15% for South Korean imports.

HD Hyundai itself has been part of these negotiations, aiming to strengthen its cooperation network in the U.S. In May, the company’s Chang Kisun, who recently took over the helm of the conglomerate, held talks with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Jamieson Greer regarding how the two nations could deepen their ties within the shipbuilding sector.

HD Hyundai has also pledged to support the Trump Administration’s Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA) initiative, which is the foundation of the $150 billion investment.

What is more, HD Hyundai has set up strategic partnerships with American players like Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) in the naval sector and Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) in the commercial ship segment.

Beyond HD Hyundai, as part of the rejuvenation fund, at the end of August. Hanwha Group revealed a $5 billion infrastructure plan for its Hanwha Philly Shipyard.