Hanwha Philly Shipyard, formerly Philadelphia Shipyard Inc''.'', is a commercial

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

located in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on part of the site of the

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy shipyard and was historically important for nearly two centuries. Construction of the original Philadelphia Naval Shipyard began during the American Revolution in 1776 at Front ...

. The commercial yard began after the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

had ended most of its operations at the site. Until being acquired by the

Hanwha Group Hanwha Group () is a large business conglomerate (chaebol) in South Korea. Founded in 1952 as Korea Explosives Co. (), the group has grown into a large multi-profile business conglomerate, with diversified holdings stretching from explosivesthei ...

in December 2024, the yard was a company listed on the

Oslo Stock Exchange Oslo Stock Exchange () (OSE: OSLO) is a stock exchange within the Nordic countries and offers Norway's only regulated markets for securities trading today. The stock exchange offers a full product range including equities, derivatives and fixed ...

and was part of the Aker Group controlled by

Kjell Inge Røkke Kjell Inge Røkke (born October 25, 1958) is a Norwegian billionaire businessman. He is the chairman of the Norwegian-based company Aker ASA, and holds directorships in Aker BP, Kværner, Ocean Yield, Aker BioMarine and Aker Energy. As of De ...

. The yard builds Jones Act-compliant ships for domestic shipping, primarily product tankers and container ships.

History

The yard was started as a cooperation between

Kværner Kværner was a Norwegian engineering and construction services company that existed between 1853 and 2005. During its initial decades, the firm was involved in the manufacture of cast iron stoves and hydroelectric turbines. The turbine busi ...

and the

City of Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West ...

and the

Government of the United States The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...

. Rebuilt and opened in 2000, the yard delivered its first ship in 2003: MV ''Manukai'', a container cargo ship for Matson Line and the first of three, CV 2600 class sister vessels built for Matson through 2006. In 2005, control of the yard passed to Aker, which bought the troubled Kværner firm. Aker American Shipping ASA was formed and listed on the Oslo Bors. In 2007, Aker American Shipping was split into two companies - the shipbuilding company, Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, and the ship owning company, Aker American Shipping (today American Shipping Company). In January 2013, the shipyard completed construction of fourteen product tankers for subsidiaries of American Shipping Company (AMSC),

Overseas Shipholding Group Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) is the operator of a fleet of twenty-four oil tankers and oil tug-barges. In 2024, the company was acquired by Seattle-based transportation company Saltchuk. History Founded in 1948, Overseas Shipholding Group ...

(OSG) and Crowley. On September 29, 2011, Aker Philadelphia signed a contract with

SeaRiver Maritime SeaRiver Maritime is a wholly owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil. The company was formed in the early 1990s by Exxon when it spun off its maritime operations into the new company following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. In 1994, SeaRiver applied ...

Inc. (the shipping subsidiary of

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

) for the construction of two Aframax oil product tankers for delivery in 2014. At 820 ft. in length and measuring over 115,000 tons deadweight, they will be the largest ships yet built by the yard. On August 14, 2013, Philly.com reported that Aker signed a joint business venture with Crowley Maritime Corp of Jacksonville, Florida, to construct eight product tankers with an option for four additional tankers. The venture was valued at $500 million and is expected to continue work at the yard through 2017. On November 6, 2013, Aker Philadelphia Shipyard announced an agreement to build two container ships, named Aloha class, for Matson, Inc. On June 10, 2014, the shipyard announced the planned establishment of Philly Tankers, a Jones Act Shipping Company. The shipyard has firm contracts to build two eco-design product tankers and options for two additional new builds. On June 11, 2014, Aker Philadelphia Shipyard has delivered the first of two

aframax An Aframax vessel is an oil tanker with a deadweight between 80,000 and 120,000 metric tonnes. The term is based on the Average Freight Rate Assessment (AFRA), a tanker rate system created in 1954 by Shell Oil to standardize shipping contract ...

tankers to SeaRiver Maritime, Exxon Mobil Corporation's U.S. marine affiliate. This tanker is 820 feet long and designed to transport 800,000 barrels of Alaskan North Slope crude oil from

Prince William Sound Prince William Sound ( Sugpiaq: ''Suungaaciq'') is a sound off the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

to the

U.S. West Coast The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S. states of Cali ...

. Also, this vessel is equipped with double hull protection, the latest navigation and communications equipment, and an energy-efficient engine. On September 30, 2015, Aker Philadelphia Shipyard delivered the ''Ohio'', the first of four next-generation 50,000 dwt product tankers that it is building for Crowley Maritime Corporation. On October 1, 2015, the shipyard began production activities on two 3,600 TEU Aloha class containerships that it is building for

Matson Navigation Company Matson may refer to: * Matson (surname) * Matson, Gloucester, England, a suburb of Gloucester * Matson, Missouri, an unincorporated community * 2586 Matson, an asteroid * Matson, Inc., a shipping company, formerly Matson Navigation Company * Matson ...

. The contracts for the vessels were originally signed in 2013 for a total value of $418 million. On December 1, 2015, at an extraordinary general meeting, shareholders of Aker Philadelphia Shipyard ASA (OSLO: AKPS) approved a proposal to change the company's name to Philly Shipyard ASA. Accordingly, Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc.(APSI), the sole operating subsidiary of AKPS, likewise changed its name to Philly Shipyard. On December 23, 2015, Philly Shipyard completed the construction of the ''Texas'' for Crowley Maritime Corporation. Texas - it's the 22nd vessel built by Philly Shipyard. It's the next generation 50,000 dwt product tanker. On April 15, 2016, the shipyard delivered the ''Louisiana''. ''Louisiana'' - joins sister ships ''Ohio'' and ''Texas'', which were received by Crowley in 2015. The 600-foot tanker has a carrying capacity of 14.5 million gallons of crude oil or refined products. In March 2019 the shipyard delivered a container vessel for the Hawaii trade but had no new vessel orders. In July the yard had only a short-term contract for the

refit Refitting or refit of boats and marine vessels includes repairing, fixing, restoring, renewing, mending, and renovating an old vessel. Refitting has become one of the most important activities inside a shipyard. It offers a variety of services for ...

of a Maritime Administration cargo ship. In a report to their investors, they outlined an effort to pursue the repair and building of US government vessels. As of August 2022 the shipyard had three

National Security Multi-Mission Vessel The National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) is a United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) ship designed as training vessels for maritime academies. The five vessels will also be equipped to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster ...

s (NSMV) under construction. Matson placed a $1 billion order for three LNG-fueled Aloha class container ships in November 2022. On June 20, 2024, South Korean Hanwha Group and its shipbuilding subsidiary

Hanwha Ocean Hanwha Ocean Co., Ltd. (), formerly known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME; ), is one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea, along with Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai and Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung. History ...

have agreed to purchase Philly Shipyard for $100 million pending relevant regulatory approvals. Six months later, it was announced that the acquisition had been completed.

References

Building the future. Hanwha Philly Shipyard. (n.d.). https://hanwhaphillyshipyard.com/

External links

Ships built by Philly Shipyard

Hanwha Philly Shipyard
{{Coord, 39.888301, -75.187844, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Shipyards of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Philadelphia Companies listed on Oslo Axess Industrial buildings and structures in Pennsylvania 2024 mergers and acquisitions