Hanwha Ocean bags US$525M order for South Korean installation vessel

South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean disclosed in a 6 February stock exchange filing that it had signed a contract to build a wind turbine installation vessel worth around US$525M, with delivery scheduled by May 2028. The counterparty is Ocean Wind Power 1 Ltd, an Oceania-based affiliated company.

Commenting on the order via social media, Hanwha Ocean said the vessel is currently under review for priority domestic offshore wind projects, including the Shinan Ui wind power project, with detailed operational plans under development. The 390-MW project is seen as a key enabler of domestic renewable energy targets.

According to Hanwha Ocean, the newbuild will be Korea’s first vessel capable of installing 15-MW-class, large-scale offshore wind turbines and is expected to be the largest vessel of its type operating in the domestic offshore wind market.

“As domestic offshore wind capacity in the Republic of Korea is expected to expand to 25 GW by 2035, the importance of foundational infrastructure such as ports and vessels is also increasing,” Hanwha Ocean said. “We aim to support the full-scale growth of the domestic offshore wind industry by leveraging our competitiveness in large, high-value specialised vessels.”

South Korean media have reported that offshore wind sites in the country currently rely on Chinese-built and operated vessels, often deployed after only a change of flag, which “raises supply chain dependency risks”.

The latest order is viewed as part of broader efforts to strengthen core offshore wind infrastructure using domestically built vessels and the local supply chain.