The launch ceremony for the Chimbote, a landing support vessel jointly built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Peru's Sima shipyard, was held at the Sima shipyard on Tuesday, with Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori (center) and officials from both countries in attendance. [Source: Office of the President of Peru]
The launch ceremony for the Chimbote, a landing support vessel jointly built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Peru's Sima shipyard, was held at the Sima shipyard on Tuesday, with Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori (center) and officials from both countries in attendance. [Source: Office of the President of Peru]

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has completed its first overseas warship construction, a milestone the company says marks a new export model for South Korean naval vessels.

HD Hyundai Heavy announced Thursday that the launch ceremony for the Chimbote, the first of two new landing support vessels for the Peruvian Navy, was held at Peru's Sima shipyard. Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori presided over the event, which was attended by South Korean Ambassador to Peru Choi Jong-wook, the Peruvian Navy commander and officials from both countries.

Fujimori views the project as strategically significant for developing Peru's human resources and expanding the supply chain of its shipbuilding industry at a national level.

The Chimbote is the first of two landing support vessels jointly built by HD Hyundai Heavy and the Sima shipyard. It is one of four vessels — including a frigate, an offshore patrol vessel and two landing support ships — that the Peruvian Navy ordered in April 2024. The second vessel, the Talara, has completed its land-based construction phase.

Named after major Peruvian port cities, the Chimbote and the Talara are multipurpose landing support vessels capable of transporting personnel and cargo, providing logistics support and responding to natural disasters and emergencies.

The joint construction project marks a shift from the conventional model of building vessels domestically and delivering finished products to one of local co-production through technology cooperation. Expanding the naval vessel business from simple shipbuilding into an engineering-driven enterprise, the project is regarded as a new export model for South Korean warships.

Under the arrangement, HD Hyundai Heavy provided design and technical support while the Sima shipyard used its local production facilities to handle block fabrication and assembly, outfitting, and testing and sea trials.

The approach is expected to drive future export growth as more countries require that ordered vessels be built locally.

Government support and public-private cooperation played a central role in the project. South Korea's Ministry of National Defense and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration worked with the Peruvian government to support HD Hyundai Heavy's naval exports, while the South Korean Embassy in Peru and KOTRA, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, provided assistance through their local networks.

"The launch of the Chimbote is the result of Team Korea — the public and private sectors working as one," HD Hyundai Heavy President Ju Won-ho said. "We will strengthen the competitiveness of our naval vessels and diversify our export markets."

HD Hyundai Heavy is currently conducting the basic design for a next-generation 1,500-ton-class submarine for the Peruvian Navy.


cityblue@heraldcorp.com