HD Hyundai and Kiewit Form Venture to Build New US Shipyard
South Korea’s HD Hyundai and US engineering group Kiewit plan to begin building a new American shipyard in 2027, targeting full operations in 2029 and work spanning commercial vessels, naval support ships and port infrastructure.
South Korean shipbuilding group HD Hyundai will establish a joint venture with US engineering and construction company Kiewit to build a new shipyard in the United States, extending industrial cooperation between the two countries into a major greenfield project.
The companies signed an agreement in Houston on Thursday to create the venture, tentatively named HD-Kiewit Shipbuilding LLC. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, with full-scale operations targeted for 2029. The location and expected investment value were not disclosed in the announcement.
Under the partnership, HD Hyundai will contribute shipbuilding technology, production expertise and experience operating large yards. Kiewit will provide engineering and construction capabilities. The division of responsibilities is intended to combine Korean shipbuilding know-how with local project delivery capacity as the partners develop the new facility.
The venture plans to pursue work involving US Navy logistics support vessels and commercial ships. It will also consider producing ship blocks and modules for other American shipyards, while the companies expect to broaden cooperation into port infrastructure development. The range of potential projects gives the partnership several routes into the US maritime market rather than tying the facility to a single vessel class.
HD Hyundai emphasized that the project would construct a new yard instead of modernizing an existing site. A purpose-built facility could allow the partners to design production lines around current manufacturing methods from the outset, although the companies have not yet released details about the planned yard’s capacity, location or order pipeline.
The Korean group said the project could expand US shipbuilding capacity and strengthen domestic supply chains. For HD Hyundai, the agreement also creates a larger operating foothold in a market seeking to rebuild maritime manufacturing capabilities and secure additional capacity for both government and commercial demand.
Kiewit Maritime President Chad Johnson said the project could support the development of a skilled workforce alongside additional shipbuilding capacity and a stronger supply chain. HD Hyundai described the venture as a milestone in its effort to become a strategic partner to the American shipbuilding industry.
The timetable now shifts attention to site development, regulatory approvals and the companies’ ability to turn the agreement into operating capacity by 2029. Further announcements on the yard’s location, financing, production scale and initial customers will determine the project’s commercial impact and its contribution to wider Korea-US shipbuilding cooperation.