(LEAD) Hyundai Heavy to expand presence in warship market

(ATTN: CORRECTS Hyundai Heavy's annual sales in 8th para)
By Nam Kwang-sik

SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's largest shipbuilder, will enhance its presence in the warship market as part of efforts to boost sales, its parent, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., said Wednesday.

The company said a 26,000-ton warship, named Aotearoa, built by the shipbuilder left Ulsan, southeast 414 kilometers of Seoul, late Tuesday for New Zealand. Hyundai Heavy clinched an order for the warship in July 2016 from the Royal New Zealand Navy.

"Hyundai Heavy will beef up its presence in the overseas warship market on the basis of advanced technologies and its experience in the sector," Korea Shipbuilding said in an emailed statement.

In addition, Hyundai Heavy is in the early phase of the design process to build the South Korean Navy's next-generation amphibious assault ship, called Landing Platform eXperimental (LPX)-Ⅱ.

In October last year, Hyundai Heavy signed an agreement with the Navy on the LPX-II project, which aims to build a new versatile large-deck landing ship for short take-off and vertical landing fighter jets.

The shipbuilder is also pushing ahead with its plan to win an order to design the 6,000-ton class destroyers, called the Korea Destroyer Next Generation (KDDX), of the South Korean Navy.

The country's arms procurement agency Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) will close bidding for the design of the destroyers on July 20.

In 2019, Hyundai Heavy's warship sales accounted for only 8 percent of its parent group's shipbuilding revenue of 13.3 trillion won (US$11.2 billion).

Hyundai Heavy has built about 80 warships, including the South Korean Navy's destroyer King Sejong the Great.

The shipbuilder has been anticipating more orders from New Zealand, citing a deal signed in June last year by South Korea and New Zealand to boost cooperation in the military supplies field.

ksnam@yna.co.kr
(END)