Hanwha Ocean Co. is ramping up efforts to win Poland’s highly-competitive next-generation submarine project, worth around 3 trillion won ($2.2 billion), by joining forces with local defense and shipbuilding companies.
On Wednesday, the South Korean shipbuilder signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PGZ Stocznia Wojenna and Nauta Shipyard to cooperate on the construction and maintenance of Poland’s naval ships. The two companies belong to Poland’s state-owned defense group Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ).
“The partnership with Polish shipyards is expected to strengthen Hanwha Ocean’s bid for the ORKA submarine project and its localization efforts,” Hanwha said in a press release on Thursday.
The signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of MADEX 2025, South Korea’s biggest maritime defense exhibition, in Busan.
Under the agreement, Hanwha Ocean and the two Polish shipyards plan to cooperate on the joint development, construction, maintenance, technology transfer and exports of various naval vessels, including the ORKA submarines, it added.
Under the ORKA project, Poland plans to buy three submarines armed with long-range cruise missiles to attack land targets to modernize the navy.
Under the MOU, Hanwha will also team up with PGZ SW to explore the joint development and overseas exports of offshore patrol vessels, surface ships, support ships and unmanned surface and underwater systems, as well as export-optimized submarines.
Its collaboration with Nauta Shipyard is expected to enhance Hanwha’s submarine maintenance capabilities in Poland, where Nauta already holds a significant share of the MRO market.
“Hanwha Ocean will strengthen ties with local companies in Poland through the MOU and further boost its competitiveness to win the OKRA submarine project,” it said in the press release.
The three-way preliminary agreement followed Hanwha’s MOU with Polish defense firm WB Group in September last year to boost its chances of winning the Polish Navy project.
Meanwhile, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. signed a preliminary agreement on Thursday to establish a strategic partnership with the Portuguese Navy on the sidelines of MADEX 2025.
Under the MOU, they will jointly develop small submarine models and collaborate on maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services.
HD Hyundai showecased its three export submarine models — 2,300-ton, 1,500-ton and 800-ton classes — tailored for overseas defense markets at the MADEX defense exhibition.
By Yeonhee Kim
yhkim@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.
