HD Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding (HVS) will invest US$100 million to expand its shipyard in Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. The investment will be used to upgrade docks, quay walls and production facilities as the company seeks to boost its shipbuilding capabilities and increase output over the next few years.
Founded in 1996 as a joint venture with the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, HVS began by focusing on ship repair before expanding into newbuild construction in 2008. Today it is the biggest shipyard in Vietnam, producing more than 80% of the country’s ships.
The yard has built more than 200 ships including bulk carriers and petrochemical product tankers. It now turns out about 15 ships a year.
Production capacity to grow to 2030
HVS aims to increase annual production to 23 ships by 2030, with a longer term goal of 30 ships a year. The expansion program is intended to underpin this growth by improving the yard’s infrastructure and productive capabilities.
The shipyard has a one million square meter footprint, is equipped with two docks and some 1.5 km of quay walls.
HVS also has ventured into the LNG dual-fuel tanker segment. In July the company cut steel for the first of two LR2 tankers for UK-based Union Maritime. Each vessel will have a deadweight tonnage of 115,000 tons and will be delivered between August and November 2027.
Extended site tenure until 2066
The company confirmed it will now operate from the shipyard site until 2066. The Khanh Hoa Province Economic Zone and Industrial Park Management Board issued an amended investment registration certificate on April 16 to extend the tenure by 20 years.
HD Hyundai Mipo, a shipbuilding division of HD Hyundai Group, had previously pledged $100 million. Later that year, the company spent $57 million on three new piers and the expansion of existing facilities at HVS in pursuit of the same goal of 23 vessels a year in production capacity by 2030.
HD Hyundai boosts industrial presence in Vietnam
The expansion is part of HD Hyundai’s wider industrial activities in Vietnam. Last year in August, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), the holding company of HD Hyundai Group, acquired 100 percent of Doosan Vina, the Vietnamese subsidiary of Doosan Enerbility Co, for $207.5 million.
HD KSOE took over Doosan Vina’s 111-hectare industrial complex in Quang Ngai Province’s Dung Quat Economic Zone following the deal.
HVS is looking to ramp up production and cement its position in Vietnam’s shipbuilding industry through further investment in shipyard infrastructure, a longer operating life and a growing orderbook including LNG dual-fuel vessels.
