The engineers from ECO, who accompanied the delegation to Korea, will remain in South Korea for another week to learn advanced shipbuilding techniques and participate in a technical exchange workshop.
Taking a step forward in its efforts to help revitalize the American shipbuilding industry, HD Hyundai has commenced its onsite initiatives for joint operations. A delegation from its US shipbuilding partner, Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO), visited Korea this week to discuss their plans for the joint construction of container vessels in the United States.
During their two-day visit, the delegation toured HD Hyundai’s Global R&D Center, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ and HD Hyundai Mipo’s Dockyard to witness firsthand the technological capabilities and shipbuilding expertise of the world’s leading shipbuilder. This comes after the two companies signed an exclusive MOU for a strategic and comprehensive partnership in June 2025 to jointly build medium-sized container vessels at ECO’s shipyard by 2028. They are also looking at expanding the scope of cooperation beyond ship types, to include port cranes (a sector with heightened security considerations).
The ECO delegation visited HD Hyundai’s Global R&D Centre on July 22. They toured the Digital Insight Centre to observe the operational status of HD Hyundai-built vessels currently in service around the world. The delegation also visited the site where automation solutions were developed and discussed their practical application along with robotic welding technologies at shipyards; based on a shared understanding that to expand joint shipbuilding efforts in the US, strengthening local infrastructure and enhancing production capabilities will be necessary.
The delegation toured shipyards at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan on July 23. They observed shipbuilding sites, boarded large container vessels, and closely examined HD Hyundai’s design and production processes, dock operation and management methods, as well as its automation systems. The engineers from ECO, who accompanied the delegation to Korea, will remain in South Korea for another week to learn advanced shipbuilding techniques and participate in a technical exchange workshop where they will discuss detailed plans for joint shipbuilding.
A meeting was also held, whereby Chung Kisun, the Executive Vice Chairman of HD Hyundai, and Dino Chouest, CEO of ECO, agreed to expand their partnership beyond joint construction of container vessels and explore future business opportunities together. Chung said HD Hyundai supports efforts to revitalize the US shipbuilding industry, and that the joint shipbuilding project between the two companies will serve as an excellent example of Korea-US cooperation in the shipbuilding sector.
