HJ Shipbuilding Wins 212 bln-won Order for 4 Navy Patrol Boats

South Korean shipyard HJ Shipbuilding & Construction Co. said Thursday it has clinched a 212 billion-won (US$159 million) order to build four high-speed patrol ships for the country’s Navy.

HJ Shipbuilding & Construction said in a regulatory filing that it has bagged the order from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in line with the Navy’s program to upgrade its patrol vessels.

The shipbuilder, formerly Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., did not disclose when the patrol vessels will be delivered to the Navy.

The order is the first of the Navy’s 200-ton Gumdoksuri (Golden Eagle)-B class Batch-II project, a follow-up on its Gumdoksuri-B class Batch-I program to build 16 high-speed patrol boats.

The Gumdoksuri-B class Batch-I patrol ships were designed to replace the existing 170-ton Chamsuri (Sea Eagle)-class vessels operating in waters near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas.

The Koreas engaged in two deadly naval skirmishes in the Yellow Sea close to the NLL in 1999 and 2002.

Hanjin Shipbuilding & Construction said the latest patrol boats will be equipped with high-powered guided rockets, a remote firing control system, electronic warfare equipment and stealth capabilities.

Hanjin Shipbuilding & Construction has constructed more than 100 high-speed patrol boats for the Navy since 1972.

In April 2021, a consortium led by local builder Dongbu Corp. acquired a controlling stake in Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction from the latter’s creditors led by the state-run Korea Development Bank.