HD Hyundai looks at Subic Bay for next expansion

HD Hyundai, formerly known as Hyundai Heavy Industries, is looking at overseas expansion, and has expressed interest in using two drydocks in Subic Bay in the Philippines.

According to the office of the president of the Philippines, the Korean giant is looking to set up at the facility, originally founded by Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction nearly 20 years ago, by the end of this year.

US private equity firm Cerberus Global Investment acquired the bust Subic shipyard last year and has since renovated the facility and come to an agreement with the Philippine navy to use some of the huge yard, one of the largest shipbuilding sites in Southeast Asia.

HD Hyundai has one overseas yard already, Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding, located at Khanh Hoa, 550 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City.

The Korean shipbuilding group has amassed a huge orderbook over the past couple of years, and has reopened a shuttered yard in Gunsan, 179 km southwest of Seoul.