Navy boosts Korea shipyards
U.S. Navy Expands Ship Repair Work in South Korea, Signaling Confidence
The U.S. Navy is asking South Korean shipyards to do more — and paying for it. New "change orders" have expanded the scope of repairs on vessels already in Korean docks, a sign that a two-year pilot program is becoming standard practice, according to UPI.
HJ Shipbuilding & Construction is among the yards now handling extra work beyond original contract terms, Myrtle Beach Online reported. The expansion raises hopes among Korean firms for larger, long-term follow-up contracts as the U.S. Navy leans harder on allied shipyards to keep its fleet ready.
A Two-Year Pivot That Started With One Ship
The push to repair U.S. ships in South Korea began in earnest in August 2024. That month, Hanwha Ocean won the first-ever U.S. Navy overhaul contract in Korea — a roughly $20 million job on the USNS Wally Schirra, a logistics support ship. The deal was worth about $20 million, according to USNI News.
By November 2024, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries had secured its own contract, this one for the USNS Yukon — a 45,000-ton replenishment oiler. That made it one of the largest non-combat ships ever overhauled by a foreign contractor for the U.S. Navy. Five such logistics vessels are now slated for Korean yards in fiscal year 2026, up from just one in 2024, according to U.S. Navy budget documents.
U.S. Shipyards Are Overwhelmed, and Washington Knows It
The move offshore is not a choice so much as a necessity. As of late 2023, nearly 40% of U.S. attack submarines were out of service waiting for repairs, according to the Congressional Research Service. Public and private American shipyards simply do not have enough workers or space to keep up.
China now has roughly 232 times the shipbuilding capacity of the United States, according to a leaked Navy intelligence briefing reported by Fox News. That gap forced the Pentagon to look to treaty allies. South Korean yards offer 30 to 40 percent faster turnaround times than U.S. West Coast facilities, largely because of larger workforces and advanced automation, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Korean Yards Prove Themselves, Navy Adds More Work
Early results won trust fast. By March 2025, the Wally Schirra project was running 15% ahead of schedule. That led the Navy to explore "growth work" — the term for extra repairs added after a contract is signed. The current change orders are the formal result of that confidence.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, the main architect of the strategy, put it plainly: "We are leveraging the world-class expertise of our Korean allies to ensure our fleet remains mission-ready." Hanwha Ocean CEO Kwon Hyek-woong said the goal is to "build a bridge of industrial cooperation that secures the maritime interests of both nations." The expansion is expected to add $50 to $80 million to the local economies of Geoje and Ulsan over the next 18 months.
U.S. Labor Unions Push Back as Contracts Grow
Not everyone is cheering. The Metal Trades Department of the AFL-CIO has raised alarms that sending ship repairs overseas sets a precedent for offshoring defense jobs, according to Politico. The Navy insists it is only filling gaps that American yards cannot handle right now.
Some conservative analysts at the Heritage Foundation have also flagged security risks — worrying about U.S. hulls sitting in foreign ports, even friendly ones. But defense expert Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute pushes back. He argues that sending logistics ships to Korea "allows U.S. yards to focus on high-end combatants like carriers and submarines, which must be serviced domestically for security reasons," according to Defense News.
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