Hanwha Shifts Control of Philly Shipyard to U.S. Defense Arm in $237.6M Deal

Hanwha Defense USA will take a controlling 60% stake in Hanwha Philly Shipyard in a transaction valued at approximately $237.6 million, according to a September regulatory filing in South Korea, with completion planned for October 31. The deal transfers control from Hanwha Systems to Hanwha Defense USA Shipbuilding LLC, a joint venture between HDUSA and Hanwha FutureProof, while Hanwha Ocean retains its 40% stake.

The move is not a new acquisition by Hanwha Group, which bought the former Philly Shipyard for $100 million in December 2024. It is a restructuring designed to align Hanwha's commercial and government shipbuilding operations under a single leadership structure within its U.S. defense business.

Retired Rear Adm. Tom Anderson, president of U.S. shipbuilding at HDUSA, will oversee the company's American shipbuilding operations.

"As Hanwha Defense USA continues to grow its multi-domain presence across the U.S., bringing the Philly Shipyard under HDUSA will further align our government and commercial shipbuilding efforts," said Michael Coulter, president and CEO of Hanwha Defense USA. "We look forward to continuing to invest in our Philly Shipyard facilities and workforce in preparation for exciting work ahead."

How did the yard reach this point?

The restructuring caps a transformation that began years before Hanwha acquired the facility. In 2019, Philly Shipyard faced an uncertain future after delivering the last of two containerships to Matson, leaving its commercial newbuilding orderbook empty. With no new construction contracts, the workforce had collapsed from roughly 1,200 employees at the start of 2018 to just 80 by July 2019 — a drop of more than 90% in eighteen months.

The yard turned to government work to survive, adopting what was then described as a strategy to "go gray." Its first contracts covered maintenance and repair of the Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force ships FSS Antares and FSS Pollux, allowing the yard to recall laid-off workers and put its drydocks back to use.

The real turning point came in April 2020, when Philly Shipyard won construction of the first two National Security Multi-Mission Vessels under a $630 million contract managed by TOTE Services. The program eventually expanded to five ships, providing the long-term production backlog needed to rebuild the workforce.

The yard kept pursuing government repair work, including a 2021 contract for the Military Sealift Command's USNS Charlton.

What is the shipyard building now?

Seven years after that initial pivot, the Philadelphia facility holds a substantial dual orderbook:

• Three LNG-powered containerships for Matson
• Two LNG carriers for Hanwha Shipping
• Four firm medium-range tanker orders, with options for six additional vessels
• The fifth and final NSMV for MARAD, scheduled for delivery in 2027 after four earlier deliveries

Earlier in October, TOTE Services finalized a contract with MARAD to manage construction of the first of a new generation of Missile Range Instrumentation Vessels for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, awarding the shipbuilding subcontract to Hanwha Philly Shipyard. The first vessel, Golden Defender, is scheduled for delivery in 2030. The missile-tracking vessels share approximately 70% design commonality with the NSMV training ships, building directly on the existing production line.

Can Philadelphia become a Navy yard?

Hanwha's larger ambition extends beyond defense-adjacent programs: it wants Philadelphia building vessels directly for the U.S. Navy. In August 2025, Hanwha announced plans to invest $5 billion in the shipyard, adding dry docks, expanded waterfront facilities and modernized production capabilities, with a long-term goal of raising annual output to as many as 20 vessels.

The effort received high-level attention in September, when Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao toured the facility and met Hanwha executives to discuss shipbuilding capacity, workforce development and future Navy requirements.

"Over the past two years Hanwha has made significant investments in the Philly Shipyard to contribute to the revitalization of the U.S. shipbuilding industry," Anderson said. "Now we are positioning the shipyard to transition to dual-use, aligning shipyard operations, workforce, and customer relations in preparation to build for the U.S. Navy, other federal agencies, and commercial customers."

The numbers track the turnaround. Hanwha said in September that the shipyard's workforce had more than doubled since its acquisition, reaching nearly 2,500 employees — roughly thirty times the headcount of July 2019. For a yard that was struggling to find work seven years ago, the announcement marks another milestone in its shift from commercial shipbuilder to potential supplier for the U.S. defense industrial base, with the October 31 closing set to formalize the single-command structure Hanwha intends to carry into Navy work.