HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Partners with Greece’s Maritime Power for Naval Defense

South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has entered a strategic partnership with Greece’s Skaramangas Shipyard to expand cooperation in naval defense projects. On June 2nd, both companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) covering Greek Navy and Coast Guard vessel construction, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services, as well as unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and combined manned-unmanned systems. The agreement was formalized during a signing ceremony attended by HHI’s Global Defense Sales Director, Kim Jae-Rak, Skaramangas CEO, Varvitsiotis, the Korean Ambassador to Greece, and Greece’s Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs, Gikas. The partnership builds on Skaramangas’s reputation as Greece’s largest shipyard, known for constructing Type 214 submarines and MEKO-class surface frigates in collaboration with Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. HHI, already active in naval shipbuilding in the Philippines and Peru, sees this collaboration as a gateway to the European market. The MoU aligns with Greece’s naval modernization program, 'Agenda 2030,' which includes upgrades for Type 214 submarines, MEKO-class ships, and new patrol vessels and corvettes. The Greek government has also mandated domestic shipyard participation in vessel construction. Skaramangas and HHI aim to enhance Greece’s maritime-defense capabilities by combining HHI’s global naval expertise with Skaramangas’s local shipbuilding experience. The partnership also reflects a long-standing commercial and industrial relationship between the two nations, dating back to the 1970s when Greek shipping orders helped establish HHI’s early success. Both companies expressed optimism about the collaboration’s potential to strengthen Greece’s defense shipbuilding sector and expand Skaramangas’s production capacity. The agreement follows HHI’s ongoing cooperation plans with shipyards in India and Saudi Arabia, reinforcing its global naval defense strategy.