HD Hyundai's U.S. Partner CEO Visits Korea... Jung Kiseon Vows to Support U.S. Shipbuilding Revitalization

ECO Delegation Reviews HD Hyundai's Technological Capabilities
Plans Underway for Joint Construction of Container Ships in the United States

HD Hyundai announced on July 23 that a delegation from its U.S. shipbuilding partner, Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO), visited Korea for two days starting on July 22 to discuss detailed cooperation plans for the joint construction of container carriers in the United States.

ECO is a shipbuilding group that owns five commercial shipyards in the United States and is a global leader in the offshore support vessel (OSV) sector, building and operating 300 OSVs. The delegation for this visit included CEO Dino Chouest, key executives, and engineers, totaling about 10 members.

HD Hyundai and Edison Chouest Offshore recently discussed detailed cooperation plans for the joint construction of container carriers in the United States. From the right in the photo, Jung Kiseon, Senior Vice Chairman of HD Hyundai, Dino Chouest, CEO of Edison Chouest Offshore. Photo by HD Hyundai

On the previous day, the delegation visited HD Hyundai's Global R&D Center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, where they toured the company's digital control center and automation solution development sites to assess its technological capabilities and shipbuilding capacity. On this day, they visited the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard yards in Ulsan to observe ship construction sites firsthand, board a large container ship, and review the design and production processes, dock operations, and automation systems.

HD Hyundai and ECO signed a strategic partnership memorandum of understanding (MOU) in June, agreeing to jointly build mid-sized container ships at ECO's shipyards by 2028. At that time, they also agreed to expand cooperation to include security-sensitive items such as port cranes. Previously, HD Hyundai dispatched about 10 experts to ECO's shipyards to support production process and facility inspections, as well as productivity improvement consulting.

Jung Kiseon, Senior Vice Chairman of HD Hyundai, stated, "HD Hyundai supports efforts to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry," and added, "The joint construction of ships by both companies in the United States will serve as an excellent example of shipbuilding cooperation between Korea and the United States."

About 10 ECO engineers plan to remain in Korea for about a week after this visit to learn advanced shipbuilding techniques and attend technical exchange workshops, where they will discuss detailed plans for the joint construction project.

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