HD Hyundai expands Vietnam shipyard to defend tanker orders

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering accelerated yard expansion plans at HD Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding on Oct. 15, reallocating standard commercial vessel construction to Southeast Asia to counter Chinese shipyard competition.

The facility expansion deploys 1.5 trillion Vietnamese dong ($57 million) to lift annual output 52% to 23 hulls by 2030. That capacity represents roughly one-tenth of HD Hyundai's total commercial ship deliveries.

The shipyard operates in Khanh Hoa Province in central Vietnam. The facility builds medium-range oil tankers and bulk carriers on a site spanning nearly 100 hectares along the coast of Dong Ninh Hoa.

South Korean shipyards in Ulsan and Yeongam are running at capacity with high-margin liquefied natural gas carriers and naval vessels. Those premium vessel orders pushed standard merchant vessel construction toward Southeast Asian drydocks.

Chinese shipbuilders including Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and New Times Shipbuilding captured dominant global market shares in bulk carriers and standard tankers. Lower domestic labor rates give Chinese shipyards a persistent pricing advantage.

Shipyard wages in Vietnam run at roughly one-third of South Korean shipyard rates. The lower cost structure allows HD Hyundai to bid competitively against Chinese yards without sacrificing shipbuilding operating margins.

The Khanh Hoa Province industrial zone authority issued the formal investment registration certificate for the yard in August 2025. That document cleared capital expenditure for three new outfitting piers and auxiliary workshops.

Construction on Pier 4 began in April at the Dong Ninh Hoa shipyard. The 280-meter pier absorbs about 350 billion dong ($14 million) in capital expenditure under a 12-month build timetable.

Completing Pier 4 will expand the yard's continuous berthing line to 1,630 meters. Longer quays allow technicians to outfit more hulls simultaneously after moving them out of the graving drydocks.

Annual delivery capacity will expand from 950,000 deadweight tons to 1.44 million deadweight tons by 2030, according to provincial filings. Maximum individual vessel size will rise from 110,000 to 115,000 deadweight tons.

The Vietnamese subsidiary delivered 15 vessels in 2024 and targeted 17 vessels this year. Annual revenue is projected to approach $700 million as annual vessel deliveries rise, the company said.

HD Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding is absorbing an adjacent 18.9-hectare eastern land parcel to reorganize steel fabrication lines. Management also plans to introduce a floating dock to supplement its two existing graving drydocks.

To support the operational scale-up, the subsidiary secured a short-term credit facility of 3.805 trillion dong ($145 million). The loan agreement was arranged through the Khanh Hoa branch of Vietcombank, according to company records.

The facility currently employs approximately 5,000 local Vietnamese workers alongside 60 South Korean supervisory engineers from HD Hyundai Mipo. The technical team oversees production standards and automated welding procedures.

The yard was founded in 1996 as a ship repair joint venture with Vietnam National Shipping Lines. The company ceased repair activities in 2011 to focus entirely on new vessel construction.

HD Korea Shipbuilding requested a 20-year extension of its shipyard operating license from Vietnamese authorities in August 2025. The regulatory request seeks to prolong operations at the Khanh Hoa yard from 2046 to 2066.

HD Hyundai also signed a maritime cooperation agreement with state-run Vietnam National Shipping Lines. The partnership covers joint commercial fleet renewal and engineering support across Southeast Asian trade lanes, the company said.

Shipowner Cido Shipping took delivery of two 50,000-deadweight-ton medium-range tankers named Atlantic Aurora and Atlantic Challenger on Oct. 8. Cido deploys both fuel-efficient product tankers in regional clean-petroleum distribution trades.

The Vietnamese yard is also pivoting toward low-emission propulsion technologies. New orders for 115,000-deadweight-ton product carriers incorporate rigid composite sails — wing-like structures harnessing wind energy — to lower voyage bunker consumption.

Transferring medium-range tanker orders to Vietnam frees valuable drydock capacity at HD Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan. The domestic shipyard is reallocating those building berths to specialized liquefied carbon dioxide and ammonia carriers.

Domestic yards run by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Samho hold more than three years of forward orders. Those backlogs are dominated by complex gas carriers for export terminal operators.

Private Chinese shipyards currently hold more than 60% of global order backlogs for standard bulk carriers. HD Hyundai aims to retain international shipping clients in commodity trades through its lower-cost Vietnamese yard.

The company has not published regulatory filings on Oct. 15 detailing new dock conversions beyond the approved pier budget, and HD Hyundai released no capital expenditure revisions this week.

Pier 4 is scheduled to complete construction in April 2027. Work on piers 5 and 6 will proceed in phases toward full commercial commissioning by late 2030.