At the world’s largest shipyard, US courts an ally to face up to China
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. ULSAN, South Korea—Just a few months ago, U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro admired a new South Korean warship built in this port city at the world’s largest shipyard.
Del Toro was on a trip hoping to sell top officials at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and others on a simple pitch. “Invest in America," Del Toro told them. Having fallen far behind China in shipbuilding, the U.S.
is turning to allies in South Korea and Japan for the turnaround strategy. Key to that effort is attracting companies such as Hyundai that go head-to-head with the Chinese and can do everything America lacks: making ships quickly at low costs with modern techniques. China’s naval battleship fleet now outnumbers the U.S.’s, having ramped up production at state-subsidized shipyards that build all types of vessels.
A majority of the world’s ship output last year came from China. Coming in at No. 2 was South Korea, with roughly a quarter of global deliveries.
The U.S. barely registers on the global rankings. The few American shipyards left build American ships—and pretty much nothing else, since the labor costs are higher and the turnaround times longer.
That is where South Korea’s shipbuilding giants like Hyundai can step in to help. No single global shipyard matches the production capacity of Hyundai’s facility in Ulsan, where hulking orange “Goliath" cranes tower into the skies. Workers ride motorcycles to whiz between the site’s 10 dry docks.
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