South Korea's HJ Shipbuilding and Construction (HJSC) has completed the final inspection required to sign a master ship repair agreement (MSRA) with the US Navy.
The port security assessment, conducted at the company's Yeongdo shipyard in Busan on January 5, 2026, marks the final regulatory milestone before the agreement is finalised later this month.
The MSRA is a formal contract between the US Government and shipbuilders for the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) of naval vessels.
Securing this agreement qualifies a shipyard to bid on complex MRO projects for US Navy ships, including those subject to high-level security and information control regulations.
The evaluation was led by security experts from the US Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). The team conducted a comprehensive on-site review of the shipyard’s counter-terrorism response, surveillance systems, facility access control, and technical information management procedures.
HJSC remarked that previous inspections by the US Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in September 2025 had already verified the shipyard's technical and quality control capabilities.
The company recently secured an MRO contract for the US Navy logistics support ship Amelia Earhart, with work scheduled to begin this month.
The official signing of the MSRA will streamline future security protocols and enable the firm to compete for work on combatant warships.
