[Exclusive] Hanwha Ocean to Service Canadian Frigate, Paving the Way for Newbuild Orders

[Financial News] Hanwha Ocean has been confirmed to have won an MRO contract for a Canadian frigate. Although it is a small-scale project, expectations are growing that it could serve as a foothold for winning newbuild contracts for Canadian warships.
According to political sources on the 29th, Hanwha Ocean is scheduled to carry out maintenance on a 5,200-ton-class Canadian frigate in Busan from the 2nd to the 14th of next month.
The MRO contract is worth 600 million won, a modest sum, but political circles and industry believe it could lay the groundwork for warship construction contracts. A track record in MRO can enhance competitiveness in bidding. In particular, the Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA) project, a U.S.-Korea shipbuilding cooperation initiative, is expected to significantly increase orders for U.S. warship construction and MRO services. This is why Hanwha Ocean, along with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, is actively pursuing MRO projects for U.S. Navy warships and others.
Support at the national level is also under way to strengthen MRO capabilities. The Navy is considering expanding the outsourcing of warship MRO to private companies, while the government plans to build a 1.5 trillion won ship-repair cluster at the Port of Busan. The complex will be capable of servicing large vessels of 30,000 tons or more. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2028, with the facility set to open in 2033.
Hanwha Ocean is actively proposing contracts to manage warships' entire life cycle, from construction through MRO. The company wants to apply the model first to the Korean next-generation destroyer (KDDX) program currently under way.
Some local voices also say that the issue of securing berths must be addressed first. According to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Song Ok-joo, Hanwha Ocean's planned maintenance of the Canadian frigate faced difficulties obtaining permission to use a berth, but the vessel was eventually berthed with the Navy's help.
All four other Canadian warships that entered Korea this year also received assistance from the Navy. In July, a private company's request to use the MRO berth and site at Uam Pier also stalled because it was not an official request from the Ministry of National Defense.A source in Busan political circles said, "Major shipbuilders have been competing to win MRO projects in anticipation of newbuild contracts, but they are struggling because infrastructure, including berth availability, is inadequate. There is broad support for the view that security and access-control measures, as well as consultation procedures with military authorities, must be improved, while construction of a ship-repair cluster should also be expedited. Only then can we strengthen MRO competitiveness and promote the shipbuilding industry." [email protected] Kim Yun-ho Reporter