Hanwha hires ex-US Navy admiral to head US shipbuilding expansion

South Korea’s Hanwha Recruits Retired US Rear Admiral to Lead Ambitious US Shipbuilding Drive

Mohd Hanif Ismail - : Oct 13, 2025 - : 11:10 am

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In a strategic move underlining the growing interconnection between Asian defence conglomerates and US maritime capacity rebuilding, South Korea’s Hanwha has appointed retired US Navy Rear Admiral Tom Anderson as President of US Shipbuilding. The decision signals Hanwha’s intent to marry US naval credentials with Korean shipbuilding expertise and to deepen its role in the transpacific defence-industrial nexus.

Anderson, who served 34 years with the US Navy — including leading the Program Executive Office for Ships and acting as commander of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) — will now oversee Hanwha’s US shipbuilding programmes, shipyard operations, future infrastructure investments and workforce development. In his new role, he is expected to help land US Navy and commercial vessel contracts via Hanwha’s recently acquired and expanding Philadelphia facility.

According to a Korea Times report, the appointment was officially confirmed earlier in October. This move comes against a backdrop of Hanwha's aggressive US strategy: in August 2025 the company committed USD 5 billion to developing and modernising its Philly Shipyard campus, with plans to install new docks, quays and block assembly facilities to expand capacity from fewer than two vessels a year to as many as twenty.

Strategic Rationale

Hanwha’s decision must be viewed in the larger context of US efforts to revive domestic shipbuilding — a sector that has declined significantly over past decades amid competition from Asian yards. The Korean government, in concert with Hanwha, has pledged up to USD 150 billion of investment toward US shipbuilding expansion under a cooperative framework. In acquiring Philadelphia Shipyard for USD 100 million in late 2024, Hanwha inherited a yard that historically delivered a large share of US “Jones Act” commercial vessels.

This development underscores the increasingly global role of Korean defence and maritime firms. Hanwha Ocean, the shipbuilding arm, is already pushing for overseas military vessel contracts, targeting up to 4 trillion won (≈ USD 2.9 billion) revenue by 2030. That ambition complements South Korea’s role as a regional shipbuilding powerhouse — at a time when US policymakers are actively courting South Korean and Japanese shipbuilding expertise to counterbalance China’s dominance in global tonnage output.

However, legal and regulatory constraints present friction. US law restricts foreign firms from constructing combatant naval vessels unless special licenses are granted. Even so, Hanwha aims to step into the naval auxiliary and modular markets while developing the local infrastructure and talent that might eventually clear hurdles for deeper naval work.

Earlier in 2025, Hanwha Ocean completed major maintenance on the US Navy’s USNS Wally Schirra at a Korean yard — the first such large-scale US Navy overhaul in the Indo-Pacific theatre. This demonstrates how Korean yards are increasingly integrated into US naval logistics strategies in the region.

Implications for trade, competition and alliances

The appointment of Anderson offers symbolic and practical benefits. From a symbolics angle, bringing a high-ranking former US naval officer signals to Pentagon stakeholders and Congress that Hanwha intends serious engagement in America’s naval industrial base. Operationally, Anderson’s experience with US procurement processes, contract law, and naval standards may help position Hanwha more credibly in bidding against entrenched US primes.

At the same time, this intensifies competition for other Asian players. For example, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung also eye US expansion, while Australia’s Austal is growing its US footprint for naval work. The Asia-Pacific shipbuilding landscape is thus shifting—not only via domestic competition but also through global trade and geopolitical linkages.

For US partners in Southeast Asia, this development could offer new sourcing or collaboration pathways. Shipyards in Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia, for instance, might become nodes in a broader Hanwha-led Indo-Pacific supply chain for naval modules or maintenance.

Challenges remain: workforce skill gaps, regulatory approval, and the need to build an order book will test Hanwha’s resolve. But the gamble is clear: leveraging Korean scale and US legitimacy, Hanwha seeks to carve a lane in a revivalist US defence-industrial ecosystem — with meaningful spillover across the Asia-Pacific region.