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Korea’s Hanwha is buying Philly Shipyard from Europe’s Aker for $100 million
The South Korea-based Hanwha industrial group says it has agreed to pay $100 million to acquire Philly Shipyard from the Norway-based Aker Group and other shareholders.Hanwha and Aker had been reported in talks since at least last fall to sell the yard, a partly state-financed commercial facility on the site of a historic U.S. Navy shipbuilding center that closed in 1996. The Navy still employs more than 4,000 engineers and other professionals in other areas of the former Philadelphia Naval Base.
“The union looks forward to a good relationship with the new owners,” said Lou Agre, head of the labor union group that employs around 1,000 at the yard. He noted the yard has been busy and is trying to interest apprentices in a shipbuilding career.
The U.S. shipbuilding industry, which is higher cost compared to East Asian rivals, remains precarious: The neighboring Philadelphia Ship Repair closed down in April, laying off members of the Machinists union, shortly after completing work on the museum battleship USS New Jersey. Port sources have said they expect Joseph Rhoads Co., which operates a neighboring dry dock, to take over the ship repair site, but Rhoads has not confirmed its plans.
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