How SECNAV’s claims about S. Korean, Japanese shipbuilders do and do not line up
Experts tell Breaking Defense that while Asian shipbuilders have become renowned for good reason, it’s apples and oranges comparing them to the US Navy’s staple prime contractors.
By JUSTIN KATZ
on July 15, 2024 at 6:30 AM
WASHINGTON — In late June, South Korean conglomerate Hanwha, and its shipbuilding arm Hanwha Ocean, announced plans to purchase a controlling stake of Philly Shipyard. And there were likely few people in Washington cheering them on more publicly than Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro.
Philly Shipyard does not build combatant ships, also called “gray hulls,” for the US Navy’s fleet, and until Hanwha’s bid is finalized, the yard is owned by a Norwegian industrial investment group. Nonetheless, the announcement was welcomed by the secretary, who said he anticipates Hanwha “will change the competitive U.S. shipbuilding landscape.”
Del Toro, in fact, has spent most of 2024 praising South Korean and Japanese shipbuilders and encouraging them to invest in American shipyards, while separately admonishing US industry for failing to invest in their own facilities and accusing them of “goosing” their stock prices.
https://breakingdefense.com/2024/07/how-secnavs-claims-about-s-korean-japanese-shipbuilders-do-and-do-not-line-up/
