Saronic taps Samsung to help revive America’s ailing shipbuilding capability

Saronic and Samsung Heavy Industries (Samsung) have announced a partnership to help accelerate the restoration of America’s domestic shipbuilding capability. This partnership is set to provide a means of churning out large numbers of autonomous or optionally crewed ships in American shipyards. The agreement will blend Saronic’s extensive experience in autonomous systems and direct access ot the US defense market with Samsung’s decades of knowledge in industrial-scale shipbuilding. In case you are unaware, Saronic is an American defence company developing autonomous maritime drones. It recently hit the news with the announcement of its planned “Port Alpha” $3.2 billion shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, intended to begin operating in 2028. Samsung Heavy Industries, on the other hand, is Samsung’s giant South Korean shipbuilding business. It has extensive experience designing and constructing large commercial ships and automating complicated shipyard production. US-Korean effort to bring shipbuilding back to the States It is Samsung’s knowledge of building shipyards, training key personnel, setting up supply chains, production lines, integration of robotics, etc, that Saronic severely lacks; hence the partnership. Saronic, for its part, will supply the “brains” for building “autonomy-capable” vessels for the US market. This means that the products they plan on producing will have varying autonomy depending on need, such as human-free navigation, surveillance, etc. The term is somewhat vague, but it does describe anything from a mostly conventional ship with automated navigation to a genuinely crewless naval vessel. As for rebuilding America’s shipbuilding capability, the idea is to effectively reindustrialize rather than rely on imports of ships and hardware from abroad. This will translate into not only building new shipyards, but also rebuilding the entire ecosystem around them (new jobs, US-based supply chains, etc). “Rebuilding America’s maritime strength requires both world-class technology and the industrial muscle to produce it at scale here at home,” Dino Mavrookas, Co-Founder and CEO of Saronic, explained in a press release. “We are proud to partner with SHI, bringing together Saronic’s maritime autonomy and next-generation manufacturing with Samsung’s storied shipbuilding and technology pedigree,” he added, “Together, we will focus on accelerating the reindustrialization of American shipbuilding, training the workforce of the future, and delivering differentiated, autonomy-capable vessels for both government and commercial applications,” he said. Reindustrializing US shipbuilding “We are pleased to establish this partnership with Saronic,” said Sung An Choi, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries. “By combining Saronic’s expertise in maritime autonomy with our expertise in shipbuilding, including production automation, we look forward to working together to create a more competitive future,” he added. At present, the announcement is somewhat less concrete than may first appear. It is currently more about exploring what can be done rather than being required to fill orders or meet customer demands in the US. But if it pays off, this could be a significant opportunity not just for the two companies, but also for the United States’ beleaguered shipbuilding industry as a whole. Whether it works will depend on what comes next: actual designs, investment commitments, shipyard equipment, workforce programmes and, most importantly, real orders. Recommended ArticlesGet the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Christopher graduated from Cardiff University in 2004 with a Masters Degree in Geology. Since then, he has worked exclusively within the Built Environment, Occupational Health and Safety and Environmental Consultancy industries. He is a qualified and accredited Energy Consultant, Green Deal Assessor and Practitioner member of IEMA. Chris’s main interests range from Science and Engineering, Military and Ancient History to Politics and Philosophy.