Hanwha Eyes Bigger U.S. Navy Role at Philadelphia Shipyard

Hanwha’s push into U.S. naval shipbuilding was on display Wednesday as Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao toured the company’s Philadelphia shipyard and met with executives about expanding domestic shipbuilding capacity.

Cao visited Hanwha Philly Shipyard with leaders from Hanwha Defense USA, discussing planned investments in the facility, workforce growth and the company’s ambitions to build more ships for the U.S. Navy.

“America’s maritime strength depends on our ability to build ships at the speed and scale our nation requires,” Cao said. “Today’s visit highlighted opportunities to expand domestic shipbuilding capacity, strengthen our workforce, and ultimately put more ships to sea.”

The visit comes as South Korea’s Hanwha rapidly expands its footprint in the U.S. maritime and defense sectors.

Hanwha acquired the former Philly Shipyard in late 2024 and has since positioned the facility as a key part of its plans to compete for U.S. government and naval work.

“As Hanwha looks to build ships for the U.S. Navy, we appreciate Secretary Cao visiting our Philly Shipyard to see the progress made since we acquired the shipyard in 2024,” said Michael Coulter, CEO of Hanwha Defense USA.

Coulter said the company wants to revive the Philadelphia Navy Yard’s long history of naval construction and help the Navy increase fleet capacity. The yard is currently finishing the Maritime Administration’s five-ship National Security Multi-Mission Vessel program. Four NSMVs have been delivered, with the fifth scheduled for delivery next year.

The lead ship, Empire State, was activated by MARAD this month for a federal mission supporting the U.S. Navy in the Indo-Pacific.

Hanwha says the Philadelphia workforce has more than doubled since 2024 to nearly 2,500 employees as the company invests in training and expands production capacity.

“As a premier global shipbuilder, Hanwha is bringing its advanced technology and training to the U.S. to expand shipbuilding capacity and help meet U.S. demand,” said Hanwha Philly Shipyard CEO David Kim.

Hanwha Philly Shipyard has a commercial backlog stretching through at least 2029, including three LNG-powered containerships for Matson, two LNG carriers for Hanwha Shipping and four firm MR tanker orders, with options for six more.”

The company has already begun moving beyond commercial shipbuilding. In July, Hanwha Philly Shipyard and TOTE Services were selected to build the Missile Defense Agency’s next-generation Missile Range Instrumentation Vessels, including the future Golden Defender, which is scheduled for delivery in 2030 and will support the Trump administration’s “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative.

Hanwha has also made a preliminary offer valued at up to $1.2 billion to acquire Austal USA, which would give the Korean company control of another major American naval shipbuilder and significantly expand its exposure to Navy and Coast Guard programs.

The expansion comes as the Trump administration looks for ways to increase U.S. naval shipbuilding capacity and bring more foreign shipbuilding expertise and investment into the domestic industrial base.

A presidential memorandum issued in August established a pathway for foreign shipbuilders to initially construct certain vessels overseas before shifting production to the United States, provided they invest in U.S. facilities, train American workers and transfer shipbuilding technology.

Hanwha Philly Shipyard occupies 115 acres at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers inside the historic Philadelphia Navy Yard. The yard says it has built roughly half of all large oceangoing Jones Act vessels delivered in the United States since 2000 and operates two of the largest graving docks on the East Coast.

Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware and Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania also joined Cao during Wednesday’s visit.

Coons said increasing Navy construction at the Philadelphia yard could help the United States respond to China’s rapidly expanding shipbuilding capacity.

“Increasing the number of Navy ships built by the Philly shipyard will be transformative for our region,” Coons said. “It will also transform our military, allowing us to keep pace with China’s new shipbuilding efforts that threaten a free and open Indo-Pacific and shipping lanes around the world.”

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