Peruvian President Dina Boluarte (fourth from right), Prime Minister Gustavo Adriansen Olaya (fourth from left), Defense Minister Walter Astudillo (third from right) and  Joo Won-ho (third from left), head of the Naval & Special Ships Business Unit at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, pose for a photo during the joint launch ceremony for four warships at a shipyard of Servicios Industriales de la Marina in Callao, Peru, on Friday. (HD Hyundai)
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte (fourth from right), Prime Minister Gustavo Adriansen Olaya (fourth from left), Defense Minister Walter Astudillo (third from right) and Joo Won-ho (third from left), head of the Naval & Special Ships Business Unit at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, pose for a photo during the joint launch ceremony for four warships at a shipyard of Servicios Industriales de la Marina in Callao, Peru, on Friday. (HD Hyundai)

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder and an affiliate of HD Hyundai, has begun constructing four military vessels in Peru, establishing its foothold in the Latin American military ship market.

HD Hyundai announced on Sunday that Hyundai Heavy Industry held a launch ceremony for the Peru warship project at a shipyard in Callao, Peru, owned by Servicios Industriales de la Marina, a Peruvian navy-owned shipbuilding company. This announcement follows a deal worth approximately 640 billion won ($434 million), signed in April between HD Hyundai and the Peruvian government.

The company will build four ships of three different types -- a 3,400-ton frigate, a 2,200-ton offshore patrol vessel and two 1,500-ton amphibious landing ships -- as part of the largest defense industry deal ever awarded to a South Korean company by a South American country.

The launching ceremony held on Friday was attended by Peruvian President Dina Boluarte and Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen Olaya, along with other Peruvian military dignitaries and officials from HD Hyundai.

"This marks a very important milestone in the history of Peru's shipbuilding industry," said Peru‘s President Dina Boluarte. "We expect this project with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to promote the modernization of the Peruvian Navy and contribute to the nation's economic growth."

With all of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' docks in Ulsan fully booked for several years, the warships will be built at a shipyard in Peru, with deliveries to the navy scheduled to begin in 2026.

“We are committed to driving this project to success through technological excellence and trust, strengthening defense cooperation between Korea and Peru,” said Joo Won-ho, head of the naval and special ships unit at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Building on the profits from its sales of high-value-added ships, the company is strengthening its presence in the naval ship market, setting a sales target of $1.56 billion for naval and special ships, up 58.6 percent from the previous year. Peru is one of the company's key regions for military vessel cooperation, where HD Hyundai aims to establish localized ship construction systems and standardize technology transfer packages.

By Lim Jae-seong (forestjs@heraldcorp.com)