Hanwha Ocean has created a dedicated business unit for next-generation critical equipment, stepping up its push to internalize technologies and strengthen its position across the shipbuilding, offshore and energy value chains.
According to industry sources on Aug. 31, Hanwha Ocean completed a major organizational restructuring on July 1, establishing the NES Business Unit, short for the Next Energy System Business Unit. The overhaul comes roughly seven months after the company created its Energy Plant Unit by integrating its offshore operations with the Energy & Infrastructure division.
The NES unit is expected to focus on entering the market for next-generation critical equipment and related technologies across the shipbuilding, offshore and energy industries. Rather than leaving such technologies at the research-and-development or planning stage, Hanwha Ocean has created an independent business organization capable of managing the full commercial process—from product planning and system design to procurement, quality control and sales.
In an internal notice, the company described the reorganization as the establishment of a new unit “to enter the critical equipment business.”
The unit includes seven specialized teams overseeing the entire business cycle. Core functions such as system sales, product planning, business planning, system design, procurement and quality management report directly to the NES unit. Hanwha Ocean has adopted a self-contained business-unit structure that brings sales, engineering and procurement functions together to give individual divisions greater autonomy and execution capability.
The move forms part of Hanwha Ocean's broader effort to reinforce its energy value chain. Late last year, the company absorbed its E&I, or Energy & Infrastructure, division into its offshore business organization and reorganized it as the Energy Plant Unit. That business is focused on large offshore structures and facilities designed to produce, float, process or store energy, including FPSOs and offshore-wind infrastructure.
The NES unit, by contrast, is expected to concentrate on the critical equipment installed on vessels and offshore facilities. It could also develop an integrated, end-to-end solution offering through cooperation with Hanwha Group affiliates in energy and machinery, including Hanwha Power Systems and Hanwha Engine. Such a system could combine next-generation technologies such as alternative-fuel propulsion systems and ammonia- and hydrogen-control equipment.
South Korea's shipbuilders have long been competitive in building high-value vessels, but they still rely on overseas suppliers for some critical components used in ships and offshore plants. The localization rate for conventional ship equipment is estimated at 80% to 90%, while the rate for key equipment used in environmentally friendly vessels is believed to be only around 50% to 60%.
Hanwha Ocean's creation of the NES unit is therefore seen as a bid to reinforce its technology and supply-chain capabilities in-house, secure proprietary technology and raise the localization rate of core equipment.
The company said the new organization was created “to review future business opportunities.”
