HD Hyundai shifts away from shipbuilding in proposed new growth engines

Chung Ki-sun, president and CEO of HD Hyundai, introduces the company's Ocean Transformation vision at HD Hyundai’s press conference on Thursday at the CES 2023 in Las Vegas. [HD HYUNDAI]

HD Hyundai, Korea's largest shipbuilder formerly known as Hyundai Heavy Industries, pegged a next-generation nuclear power generator, offshore wind power and autonomous shipping as its new growth engines, indicating a shift away from the mainstay shipbuilding business.

Chung Ki-sun, CEO of HD Hyundai, announced the business strategy during a press conference at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, a day before the opening of the CES 2023, the world's largest electronics and IT trade show.

In 2021, HD Hyundai’s shipbuilding affiliate Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) signed a $30 million investment deal with U.S. TerraPower, setting foot in the small modular reactors (SMR) business.

HD Hyundai ventured into the offshore wind farm market in December, when Hyundai Electric, an electric power affiliate of HD Hyundai, signed a strategic partnership agreement with GE Renewable Energy, a provider of wind farm solutions. The key to the agreement is that Hyundai Electric will be in charge of producing nacelles and generators for GE’s ultra-large wind turbines.

The company says it is confident with the port-to-port autonomous navigation technology it is developing, the world’s first.

Avikus, HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation subsidiary, is scheduled to release a Level 2 autonomous navigation solution for recreational boats called NeuBoat later this year.

During Wednesday's press conference, Chung said that the company will deploy green maritime technology in shipbuilding and in transporting and utilizing ships and energy.

“For HD Hyundai, the ocean is our home base, it’s where we can share the depth of our expertise,” said Chung.

“To solve the most pressing challenges faced by mankind today, including the global energy crisis and climate change, we must capitalize on the infinite potential of the sea,” Chung said. “As a future builder, HD Hyundai will take the lead in driving a historic expansion of human territory and sustainable growth for future generations through a paradigm shift with Ocean Transformation.”

HD Hyundai’s new vision, dubbed Ocean Transformation, is a completely new approach to extending the range of its businesses centered around oceans, it said. The approach plays a more concrete role than the Future Builder initiative the company announced at last year’s CES. Its four areas of focus include future ships based on autonomous and remote digital solutions; an ocean data platform offering optimal navigation paths; a solution to expand living spaces to the ocean; and a sustainable ocean energy ecosystem.

Executives from HD Hyundai’s key partners, such as Palantir COO Shyam Sankar and President & CEO of Offshore Wind at GE Renewable Energy Jan Kjaersgaard, also participated as speakers to affirm their commitment to taking part in HD Hyundai's innovations and venture to turn the ocean’s potential into a reality.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]