HJ Shipbuilding & Construction (HJSC) announced January 12 that the U.S. Navy’s 40,000-ton logistics support vessel ‘USNS Amelia Earhart’, operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC), arrived at its Yeongdo Shipyard in Busan on January 12.
The vessel, awarded to HJSC in December last year by the U.S. Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP), is 210 meters long and 32 meters wide. It is a key logistics support ship capable of delivering up to 6,000 tons of ammunition, food, and dry cargo, along with 2,400 tons of fuel, to U.S. Navy combat vessels and other frontline assets.
To support the vessel’s arrival and berthing, port service vessels including pilots and tugboats from the Port of Busan were deployed. They safely guided the USNS Amelia Earhart from the North Port breakwater to the shipyard.
The multinational shipbuilder will begin full-scale maintenance work on the vessel this month. Following comprehensive inspections, maintenance, and repair of onboard equipment and systems, the ship is scheduled to be redelivered to the U.S. Navy in March.
As Korea’s first company dedicated to naval defense shipbuilding, HJSC has been laying the groundwork for entry into the global MRO market since 2024. These efforts came to fruition in December last year when the company secured its first MRO contract with the U.S. Navy.
The MRO market, which has emerged as a new growth engine for the shipbuilding industry, was valued at approximately KRW 79 trillion last year, with the U.S. Navy MRO segment alone estimated at around KRW 20 trillion annually. In the Republic of Korea, HJSC is the third shipbuilder, following Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, to secure a U.S. Navy MRO project.
Expectations within the shipbuilding industry are also rising amid Korea-US cooperation under the MASGA project and the U.S. administration’s approval of the “Golden Fleet” initiative aimed at countering China’s expanding naval power.
Amid rising global geopolitical tensions, recently, the U.S. Department of Defense has introduced the Regional Sustainment Framework (RSF), which utilizes the maintenance, repair, and overhaul capabilities of allied nations in the Indo-Pacific to improve the speed and efficiency of U.S. Navy vessel sustainment.
HJSC plans to use this first logistics vessel MRO project as a springboard to expand its presence in the U.S. Navy MRO market. By securing a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA), the global shipbuilder targets to extend its services beyond logistics support ships to include combat vessels and escort ships in the future.