US Navy Ship Enters Hanwha Ocean Facility... First Domestic MRO

The First Domestic US Navy Ship MRO Project Begins
A New Era of Defense Cooperation Between Korea and the US Opens

The US Navy logistics support ship 'Wally Schirra' is entering Hanwha Ocean Geoje Shipyard for ship maintenance. Photo by Hanwha Ocean

A U.S. Navy logistics support ship has entered Hanwha Ocean's Geoje shipyard for depot-level maintenance. Hanwha Ocean recently won the U.S. Navy MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) contract, becoming the first domestic shipbuilder to do so.

About 50 officials from both countries, including representatives from the U.S. Navy's Far East Naval Logistics Command, the Ministry of National Defense, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, and Geoje City, attended the entry ceremony on the 2nd.

The U.S. Navy logistics support ship "Wally Schirra" that arrived that day is a vessel that supplies ammunition, food, repair parts, fuel, and other necessities to combat ships and other vessels at sea. It has a displacement of approximately 40,000 tons, with a length of 210 meters and a beam of 32.2 meters.

This ship is scheduled to undergo about three months of maintenance work at Hanwha Ocean's Geoje shipyard before being handed over to the U.S. Navy.

Recently, the U.S. has been actively considering outsourcing MRO tasks to allied countries with excellent ship technology and facilities due to challenges related to distance and costs in maintaining its naval forces. Accordingly, Hanwha Ocean secured the MSRA (Maintenance Service Repair Agreement) based on world-class ship technology and maintenance infrastructure and won this logistics support ship MRO contract.

A Hanwha Ocean official said, "We have become the first domestic shipyard to carry out the U.S. Navy ship MRO project," adding, "We will continue the reputation of K-defense by ensuring timely delivery based on world-class MRO technology."

In addition to the U.S. MRO project, Hanwha Ocean is currently preparing depot-level maintenance and performance improvement projects centered on ships exported and built by Hanwha Ocean for Indonesia, Thailand, and other countries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.