MOA aims Gunsan shipyard transfer to HD Hyundai, EcoPrime, boosting naval MRO ties

EcoPrime Marine Pacific and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a memorandum of understanding on the 13th to pursue an asset transfer of the Gunsan shipyard, with the final deal to be negotiated after due diligence.

The Gunsan shipyard sits in the Jeollabuk-do region’s Gunsan National Industrial Complex. Built in 2010 by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries on a site of about 1.8 million square meters, it halted operations in 2017 during a downturn in shipbuilding and was restarted in October 2022. It currently produces blocks at an annual rate of about 100,000 tons.

In recent years, there have been proposals to expand the yard’s role, including as a national strategic base for the U.S. Navy’s maintenance, repair and overhaul program under the MASGA project. Under the MOA, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries plans to place newbuild block orders at Gunsan for the next three years and to provide design services, source materials, and support automation and smart-shipyard technologies.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries officials say the asset transfer could enable new construction at Gunsan, and that the company will continue to receive blocks at the current level after the transfer, creating potential benefits for HDH, EcoPrime Marine Pacific, and the city of Gunsan.

EcoPrime Marine Pacific, which operates under the wider HJ Heavy Industries group, envisions operating Gunsan jointly with HJ to build a globally competitive shipbuilding platform and advance the yard’s capabilities beyond its current 100,000-ton annual block output.

Gunsan’s facilities include Korea’s largest 700-meter dry dock, enabling simultaneous construction of large vessels. The yard’s assembly capacity is about 250,000 tons per year, with the ability to build about 12 ships of 180,000 deadweight tons annually. It also features a 1,650-ton Goliath crane and a 1.4-kilometer-long quay.

For U.S. readers, the developments matter because they illustrate Korea’s ongoing effort to reform and expand its shipbuilding and defense-industrial ecosystem, with potential implications for supply chains, defense cooperation, and opportunities for U.S.-based suppliers and partners. The MASGA project underscores a framework for deeper collaboration on naval maintenance and shipbuilding between Seoul and Washington, which could influence timelines and capacity in global shipyards and related markets.