Top US, South Korean shipbuilders partner to bolster vessel production
The landmark agreement, signed as a memorandum of understanding at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Symposium at National Harbor, Maryland, covers not only military but commercial shipbuilding efforts, according to a HII press release.
'By working with our shipbuilding allies and sharing best practices, we believe this [agreement] offers real potential to help accelerate delivery of quality ships,' Brian Blanchette, HII executive vice president and president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, said in the release.
Won-ho Joo, chief executive of HHI's naval and special ship business unit, called the agreement 'a new milestone for both of our companies,' adding that the arrangement will provide South Korea 'with the unique opportunity to expand our expertise in shipbuilding.'
Hyundai Heavy Industries owns the world's largest shipyard, located in Ulsan, South Korea. The company, which boasts 10% of the world's shipbuilding market, asserts it can 'produce more than one [Aegis-equipped] ship per year, equivalent to the U.S. Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyer,' HHI Specialized Ship Business Division Managing Director Woo-man Jeong told a South Korean news outlet.
'If maritime defense cooperation with the U.S. is in full swing,' Jeong added, 'we will be able to build up to five ships per year, and there is room for further expansion.'
The agreement inked between HHI and its U.S. counterpart, which is headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, is the latest indication of increased naval collaboration between the two countries.
Last month, South Korea's naval industry notched a significant first when the Military Sealift Command's Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Wally Schirra completed a seven-month regular overhaul at a Hanwha Ocean shipyard in Gyeongsangnam-do.
The overhaul marked the first time a Republic of Korea shipyard bid on and won a contract of that scale, according to a U.S. Pacific Fleet release.
'The Republic of Korea's ability to conduct large-scale maintenance to USNS ships within the Indo-Pacific Theater demonstrates the strong strategic partnership between the Republic of Korea and the United States,' Rear Adm. Neil Koprowski, U.S. Naval Forces Korea commander, said in the release. 'Maintenance in Theater reduces downtime and costs, while enhancing operational readiness. This is a landmark achievement to be celebrated as a symbol of our strengthened partnership and ironclad commitment to the ROK-U.S. alliance.'
Monday's U.S.-South Korea shipbuilding agreement comes on the heels of a recent Government Accountability Office report that described the state of U.S. shipbuilding over the past 20 years as lingering in a 'perpetual state of triage.'
During a March 4 address to the nation, President Donald Trump promised to establish a new office of shipbuilding within the White House to inject life into the industry and revitalize U.S. naval strength.
'We used to make so many ships,' Trump said. 'We don't make them anymore very much, but we're going to make them very fast, very soon. It will have a huge impact to further enhance our national security.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Air France and KLM Make 5 Airlines Hacked In 2 Months
Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines—the flagship carriers of France and the Netherlands—were the latest in a string of global carriers to be hacked since mid-June. Five global airlines—WestJet in Canada, Hawaiian Airlines in the US, Qantas in Australia, Air France in France and KLM in the Netherlands—have been hacked in the past two months. getty On Thursday, Air France alerted customers via email of 'a recent data breach involving your personal data' whereby 'a fraudster gained limited access to a third-party system that is used by Air France.' KLM, which sent a similar breach notification to its customers, confirmed to Forbes in an email that the incident 'occurred last week and it was quickly analyzed and contained.' Some customers' first names, frequent flyer numbers and tier levels were exposed, but credit card details, passport numbers, frequent flyer miles balances and booking information were not, according to the email to Air France customers. A hacker group called ShinyHunters claims to be behind the attacks, and cyber experts believe this group overlaps with Scattered Spider, which was behind the WestJet, Hawaiian and Qantas breaches. KLM sent a similar breach notification to its customers and said in a press release that it had 'detected unusual activity on an external platform we use for customer service.' Neither Air France nor KLM has disclosed which customer service platform was breached, but multiple cybersecurity authorities, including the cybersecurity software company Malwarebytes and Infosecurity magazine, have chronicled how ShinyHunters have had success targeting high-profile Salesforce customers, including Google, Cisco, Adidas and Allianz. Airlines make good targets because they are so complex, William Wright, a Scotland-based cybersecurity expert for Closed Door Security, told Forbes. 'They are massive, with loads and loads of supply chain,' he said. 'It's very obvious where the weak links are. Unfortunately for the airlines, there's very little they can do directly, because usually it's a third party that owns the system.' Named after a popular practice among Pokémon players to actively seek out and try to capture 'shiny Pokémon,' ShinyHunters is a well-established black-hat hacking collective responsible for several high-profile data breaches and leaks in recent years. Recent victims include Ticketmaster and the Spanish online bank Santander. ShinyHunters are thought to be affiliated with Scattered Spider, a loose community of hackers that has been credited with many high-profile cyberattacks in recent years, including the 2023 ransomware attacks on MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, the British retailer Marks & Spencer and the insurance company Aflac. But it can often be difficult to attribute a cyberhack to a specific group, Wright told Forbes. 'You quite often see people with specific skill sets being called into different groups. If we use Spider as an example, it's possible one of their team has a specific set of skills with Salesforce, and therefore ShinyHunters has hired them. They will recruit from other groups when they have skill set requirements.' Why Are Frequent Flyer Miles So Valuable To Hackers? Loyalty programs are often poorly protected, Wright told Forbes. A second built-in vulnerability is the flexibility they offer customers in how they can spend miles or points. Air France's Flying Blue program is typical in allowing customers to spend miles on items other than flights—including hotels, duty-free shopping and online shopping. 'The main thing that any attacker wants to do is get the asset out of whatever system it's in,' Wright said. 'If they can spend the reward points on other things, then that's the way they'll do it. And once those points leave the airline, they are essentially untraceable.' If the airline hacks are part of what Infosecurity calls 'an ongoing data theft campaign targeting Salesforce instances.' Many of ShinyHunters' attacks employ voice phishing, as Google Threat Intelligence Group explained in a recent blog post: 'This approach has proven particularly effective in tricking employees, often within English-speaking branches of multinational corporations, into actions that grant the attackers access or lead to the sharing of sensitive credentials, ultimately facilitating the theft of organization's Salesforce data. In all observed cases, attackers relied on manipulating end users, not exploiting any vulnerability inherent to Salesforce.' All of this has led cybersecurity experts to believe the hacks were the work of Salesforce experts. 'Typically, what you get is a collection of people who have a specific set of skills. And it may very well be the reason they're targeting Salesforce is because the people who are behind it actually know Salesforce,' Wright speculated. 'Most likely if these attackers are ever caught, we'll probably find they used to be Salesforce developers or Salesforce administrators, or there will be some connection there.' Salesforce denied that its software is the weak link. 'The Salesforce platform has not been compromised, and this issue is not due to any known vulnerability in our technology,' a company spokesperson told Forbes in an email. 'It's true that the Salesforce platform itself hasn't had a vulnerability, but it's being used maliciously. It's that fine line between a very customizable piece of software and opening the door to misuse,' Wright said. Surprising Fact The hackers pulling off these huge breaches are often in their early 20s or even teens. 'A lot of these groups who are not state aligned tend to be a group of younger people who are bored, have a skill set but just don't have that moral boundary to go off and do these things,' Wright said. 'They definitely have much less experience in life with consequences.' Further Reading These 3 Airlines Were Cyberattacked In The Last 3 Weeks—Here's What We Know (Forbes)
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
ROSEN, A RANKED AND LEADING LAW FIRM, Encourages Fiserv, Inc. Investors to Secure Counsel Before Important Deadline in Securities Class Action
NEW YORK, Aug. 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of common stock of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE: FI) between July 24, 2024 and July 22, 2025, both dates inclusive (the 'Class Period'), of the important September 22, 2025 lead plaintiff deadline. SO WHAT: If you purchased Fiserv common stock during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Fiserv class action, go to or call Phillip Kim, Esq. at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for more information. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than September 22, 2025. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company at the time. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, throughout the Class Period, defendants made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) due to cost issues and other problems with its older Payeezy platform, Fiserv forced Payeezy merchants to migrate to its Clover platform; (2) Clover's revenue growth and gross payment volume ('GPV'), the total monetary value of transactions processed through Clover, were temporarily and unsustainably boosted by these forced conversions, which concealed a slowdown in new merchant business; (3) shortly after these conversions, a significant portion of former Payeezy merchants switched to competing solutions due to Clover's high pricing, significant down time, and systematic compatibility issues; (4) as a result of these merchant losses, Clover's GPV growth was significantly slowing, and its revenue growth was unsustainable; and (5) based on the foregoing, Fiserv's positive Class Period statements about Clover's growth strategies, competition, attrition, GPV growth, and business prospects were materially false and misleading. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the Fiserv class action, go to or call Phillip Kim, Esq. at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for more information. No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: on Twitter: or on Facebook: Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. ------------------------------- Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 [email protected]
Business Insider
5 hours ago
- Business Insider
Emirates becomes the biggest airline to crack down on power banks, after a fire underscored the danger
Emirates has become the latest and largest airline to crack down on power banks. The Dubai-based carrier announced Friday that using such devices will be prohibited on board its flights, starting October 1. Though many other airlines have cracked down on the use of power banks after one caught fire on a flight in January, Emirates' rules are among the strictest. Passengers won't be allowed to charge devices with power banks, nor charge a power bank itself using a plane's outlets. They're also only allowed one, which must be under 100 Wh, and stored in the seat pocket or a bag under the seat in front, not the overhead bin. It joins Southwest Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and Thai Airways, among others. Authorities in Hong Kong and South Korea have also instituted rules about power banks on planes. Why airlines are cracking down on power banks On any airline, power banks must be carried in the cabin and not left in checked baggage, so cabin crew can intervene quickly to stop a fire from getting out of control. The dangers were spotlighted in January, when an Air Busan Airbus A321 caught fire before takeoff in South Korea. All 176 people aboard survived, but 27 were injured. Investigators said the fire was likely caused by a power bank, and the South Korean government announced stricter rules around their usage. Emirates said on Friday: "There has been a significant growth in customers using power banks in recent years, resulting in an increasing number of lithium battery-related incidents on board flights across the wider aviation industry." In May, a Southwest plane was forced to divert when a customer's battery charger overheated on a flight from Baltimore to Tampa. It occurred just 24 hours after the airline instituted new rules requiring customers to keep power banks visible while in use. The Southwest flight attendants followed procedures and put the device in a containment bag. The plane landed safely in South Carolina, where passengers had to wait five hours before continuing their journey on a new plane. Power banks are particularly risky because of their lithium batteries. If overcharged or damaged, it can result in thermal runaway, leading to rapid temperature increase. Unlike phones and laptops, many power banks don't have safeguards against this. Emirates has the fourth-largest network in the world by seat miles, behind only the US's Big Three. Its decision suggests more airlines could follow suit.
