HJ Shipbuilding and Construction said Thursday that it successfully completed the MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) project for the U.S. Navy’s military auxiliary ship, the USNS Amelia Earhart, and sent the vessel to sea.
With this, the company has concluded the first U.S. Navy MRO project won by a mid-sized domestic shipbuilder. In December last year, HJ Shipbuilding signed a maintenance contract with the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) and the Military Sealift Command (MSC) for the 40,000-ton military auxiliary ship Amelia Earhart. Subsequently, the Amelia Earhart entered Busan Yeongdo Shipyard in January last month.
The contract period agreed upon by both parties was just over three months, but HJ Shipbuilding identified additional maintenance items not included in the contract scope and multiple defects during the maintenance process, and even proposed improvement measures.
The U.S. Navy accepted these proposals while significantly expanding the scope of additional maintenance. The maintenance work was greatly expanded to a level that could maximize the vessel’s performance, going beyond simple maintenance, repair, and overhaul, extending the construction period by six months from the original April to October. The contract amount also increased.
HJ Shipbuilding is evaluated as having demonstrated MRO project competitiveness aligned with the “Indo-Pacific Region Maintenance Capability Enhancement” policy being pursued by the U.S. government and Navy through this project.
Yoo Sang-cheol, CEO of HJ Shipbuilding said, “Despite frequent schedule changes and an expansion of the construction scope, we worked closely with the U.S. Navy and devoted our utmost effort to maintenance, ultimately successfully completing our first MRO project.”
He added, “Building on this achievement, we will further strengthen our cooperative relationship with the U.S. Navy and strive for follow-on orders.”
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