WASHINGTON (AP) – US lawmakers are using trips to South Korea and Japan to explore ways that the US is able to unleash their allies’ shipbuilding expertise and capabilities to help them grow Unique abilityIt is war starred by Chinese people.
Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill, is scheduled to land in Seoul on Sunday. and Andy Kim of Dn.J. plans to meet the top shipbuilders of the world’s second largest shipbuilding nation. The senator wants to look into the possibility of forming a joint venture to build and repair US Navy’s non-tumultuous ships in the Indo-Pacific and bring investment to American shipyards.
“We are currently less capable than we did during Operation Iraq’s Freedom,” Duckworth told The Associated Press. “We need to rebuild our capacity. At the same time, the ability we have is to age and break, it’s longer and more expensive.”
Their trip comes as President Donald Trump demands plans to revive American shipyards and attract foreign partners. The Pentagon is seeking $47 billion for shipbuilding on an annual budget. The urgency comes from the fact that Washington is so late to China in building naval vessels. This could lead to increased vigilance among policymakers concerned about the balance of maritime power, now moving to China, the world’s number one shipbuilder.
Duckworth, who works for the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he hopes the trip will lead to a joint venture between the US military, American companies and foreigners, and build naval auxiliary vessels and small army boats.
Another possibility is to repair US ships in the Indo-Pacific region.
“If we have to return the ship to the US… to wait for a fix to wait two years, that doesn’t help the situation,” Duckworth said.
The discussion focuses on auxiliary vessels, which are non-combat ships, such as fuel supplies and cargo ships, which support naval and military operations, she said. The Navy’s auxiliary fleet is aging and insufficient numbers, she said.
US commercial shipbuilding accounted for 0.1% of global capacity in 2024, with China producing 53%, followed by South Korea and Japan. Report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A Navy review from April 2024 found that many of its major shipbuilding programs are one to three years after the scheduled time.
During the trip, the senator is expected to meet representatives of the area’s leading shipbuilders.
South Korea and the United States are already working to cooperate with shipbuilding. In March, Hanwha Ocean completed maintenance work on South Korea’s 41,000 tonnes of US Navy dry cargo and ammunition ship. The USNS Wally Schirra overhaul was the Korean company’s first project after securing a repair contract with the US Navy in July 2024.
Last year, Hanwha Group acquired the Philadelphia Shipyard in Philadelphia. Philadelphia built a large merchant seafarer, part of the spare auxiliary fleet.
Earlier this month, South Korea proposed investing $150 billion in US shipbuilding to talk to the White House about Trump’s “Make American Shipbuilding Great” initiative.
Duckworth said he had had previous conversations with Hyundai’s heavy industry.
This month, China established the world’s largest shipbuilding company by merging two state-owned shipbuilders. The integrated Chinese state shipbuilding company produces Chinese naval combat vessels, from aircraft airlines to nuclear submarines. It controls 21.5% of the global shipbuilding market.
