HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), the intermediary holding company of HD Hyundai’s shipbuilding and offshore engineering division, announced on September 2 that it held a steel-cutting ceremony at HD Hyundai Philippines Shipyard in Subic Bay, the Philippines, marking the start of construction of a 115,000-ton petrochemical carrier.
The vessel is the first to be built by HD Hyundai Philippines and is the lead ship in a series of four petrochemical carriers ordered by an Asia-based shipping company in December 2024.
The ceremony was attended by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson, Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Sang-hwa, and HD KSOE CEO Kim Sung-joon.
HD KSOE signed a lease agreement in May 2024 with Cerberus Capital for part of the Subic shipyard site, officially launching it as the company’s second overseas shipyard.
Since 1996, the company has operated HD Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding in Khanh Hoa Province, which has become Southeast Asia’s largest shipyard.
The company expects the Philippine facility to strengthen competitiveness in bulk carrier and tanker markets, where Korean shipyards face pressure from Chinese competitors.
HD Hyundai also intends to use the shipyard to support economic and security cooperation among Korea, the United States, and the Philippines.
In 2022, subsidiary HD Hyundai Heavy Industries established a logistics support center in the Philippines to provide maintenance and repair services for naval ships delivered to the Philippine government.
HD KSOE plans to develop HD Hyundai Philippines as a strategic hub for the MASGA initiative and link operations with overseas bases in Vietnam and Singapore.
On August 27, HD Hyundai announced it would establish an investment entity in Singapore to manage international production bases. On August 25, HD Hyundai signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Cerberus Capital and Korea Development Bank to form the Korea-U.S. Maritime Investment Partnership, described as the first collaboration under the MASGA initiative.
HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) is a South Korea–based intermediate holding company of HD Hyundai Group, responsible for overseeing subsidiaries in shipbuilding and offshore engineering.