PHILADELPHIA, PA – A South Korean industrial powerhouse is steering America’s shipbuilding future from the Delaware River. Hanwha Group, one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates, has confirmed plans to expand the recently acquired Hanwha Philly Shipyard as part of a sweeping $150 billion national investment in the U.S. maritime sector.
The company’s $5 billion infrastructure program aims to transform the historic shipyard into one of the most advanced maritime production hubs in the Western Hemisphere. Hanwha’s proposal includes the construction of two additional docks, three quays, and a new block assembly facility, all designed to increase the yard’s annual output from just two vessels to as many as twenty.
The Hanwha Group has significant ties to China, with extensive manufacturing, sales, and investment operations, including chemical plants, solar facilities, machinery production, and financial services, but also faces recent political friction from China’s sanctions against its US-linked shipbuilding subsidiaries due to US-China trade tensions. These ties involve substantial economic activity, though geopolitical issues have recently complicated matters for Hanwha Ocean…