White House: Private sector steps up with new investments in U.S. maritime sector

HD Hyundai: One of the world’s largest shipbuilders, South Korea based HD Hyundai, has committed to accelerate its efforts to support the U.S. Navy’s shipbuilding program through cooperative initiatives with U.S. companies and educational and vocational exchange programs, which will have a positive impact on the defense industrial base and the broader shipbuilding workforce. It is pursuing educational exchange programs with U.S. universities on shipbuilding engineering and design – and is considering a vocational training program focused on welding that will assist these efforts. The Secretary of the Navy also recently announced a new educational partnership between HD-Hyundai, the University of Michigan, and Seoul National University, which will establish a shipbuilding design and engineering exchange program enabling civilian and Navy engineers to learn in HD Hyundai’s Korean shipyards. HD-Hyundai also seeks to pursue joint development and production opportunities with U.S. partners on current and future programs that will accelerate the sharing of the expertise, information and capabilities of both countries and develop pathways for broader shipbuilding collaboration.

Bollinger Shipyards: The first and only shipbuilder in the United States to design and build a heavy polar icebreaker in over 50 years, Bollinger will play a critical role in the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort, also known as “ICE Pact”, and its efforts to strengthen the polar capabilities of the United States and its allies through the creation of a fleet of polar icebreakers. Bollinger is currently under contract to build three Polar Security Cutter (PSC) heavy polar icebreakers for the United States Coast Guard and has invested over $20 million in private capital in its shipyard. Bollinger was founded in 1946, and is the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States. Bollinger has successfully built several classes of ships for the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy.

Davie Shipbuilding: As a result of the Biden-Harris Administration efforts to strengthen the U.S. shipbuilding industry, Davie, Canada’s largest shipbuilder, intends to make a new long-term commitment to American shipbuilding. Pending final site and partner selection, this would include a major investment in a U.S. shipyard. Davie, operating continuously since 1825 from Quebec, Canada, has delivered over 720 specialized ships. It is currently building the world’s largest orderbook of heavy icebreakers for ICE Pact partner, Canada. Davie also owns Helsinki Shipyard in Finland, which has built over 50% of the world’s icebreaker fleet. Throughout its history, Davie has also supported American shipbuilders on strategic projects such as the U.S. Navy Nimitz Class Aircraft Carriers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

Konecranes: In response to the White House-led effort to enhance the security of the maritime environment, Konecranes, a Finnish-based port equipment manufacturer, is announcing its plans to establish and grow a consortium of U.S. partners, including steel structure providers and other manufacturers, to build ship-to-shore (STS) cranes in the United States to serve North American ports. The company is committed to growing its workforce in the United States as demand for cranes produced by trusted vendors increases. Konecranes estimates that every STS crane built in the United States will require the production of 1,500 tons of U.S.-made steel and over 100,000 labor hours for the whole value chain.

GOVERNMENT ACTIONS

In addition to the new private sector investments in U.S. maritime, says the White House fact sheet, the U.S. Government has also undertaken recent action to support American shipbuilding and American shipbuilders. Supporting American shipbuilding remains a core pillar of the President’s industrial policy objectives, says the White House: New and ongoing actions include:

On July 25 the U.S. Maritime Administration within the U.S. Department of Transportation released a fact sheet that outlines the Maritime Administration’s grant and financing programs to support the U.S. shipbuilding industry and projects both U.S. government and commercial demand for American-built vessels over the next decade. The MARAD fact sheet can be found here.

On July 22, the Secretary of the Navy announced the Michigan Maritime Manufacturing Initiative to help rebuild the maritime industrial base workforce that the Navy needs. This initiative will focus on submarine production skillsets before expanding to additional classes of vessels alongside federal, state, local, and academic partners.

Bureau Veritas partners with Tara Ocean Foundation to class polar station

On July 11, the leaders of the United States, Canada, and Finland announced their intent to create the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort or “ICE Pact” – a trilateral arrangement to collaborate on the production of icebreakers, alongside allies and partners, labor, and industry. Due to the capital intensity of shipbuilding, long-term, multi-ship orderbooks are essential to the success of a shipyard.

The governments of Canada, Finland, and the United States intend to leverage their own shipyards in Canada, Finland, and the United States to build polar icebreakers for their own use, as well as extend an invitation to allies and partners to purchase polar icebreakers for their needs. Over the next six months, the United States, Canada, and Finland will develop a trilateral memorandum of understanding that will outline a framework for how this arrangement is implemented in each country.

On July 10, the U.S. Maritime Administration also announced $8.75 million in grant awards to 15 small shipyards in 12 states through the Small Shipyard Grant program. The funds will help shipyards modernize, increase productivity, and expand local job opportunities.