en.Wedoany.com Reported - Hanwha Ocean held its 26th regular shareholders' meeting in Geoje City and passed the proposal for the re-election of Kim Hee-chul as an internal director. Subsequently, a board of directors meeting will be convened to re-elect Kim Hee-chul as the company's representative director. Kim Hee-chul assumed the role of representative director at Hanwha Ocean in September 2024, and with this re-election, he will continue to lead Hanwha Ocean for another three years.
Kim Hee-chul served as the first representative director when Hanwha TotalEnergies (formerly Samsung Total) was established in 2015, leading the company to achieve operational stability and performance improvement. He has previously served as representative director for Hanwha Group's energy sector subsidiaries, including Hanwha General Chemical, Hanwha Q CELLS, and Hanwha Energy. In August 2024, due to Hanwha Ocean falling into losses again in the second quarter of 2024, Hanwha Group decided to change its management, appointing Kim Hee-chul as the new representative director and CEO of Hanwha Ocean, succeeding the former CEO Kwon Hyuk-woong.
Industry insiders in South Korea stated that to strengthen the energy industry value chain of Hanwha Group through expanding global business and creating synergies with subsidiaries, Kim Hee-chul is the best candidate to lead the growth and innovation of Hanwha Ocean, which is advancing towards its goal of becoming a "Global Marine Solutions Provider."
It is reported that after being re-elected as an internal director, Kim Hee-chul is planning to inject approximately 100 billion won (about 665 million USD, 460 million RMB) in additional investment into Hanwha Ocean's US subsidiary as a form of "capital infusion."
Hanwha Ocean has five US-related subsidiaries: Hanwha Shipping LLC, Hanwha Philly Shipyard Inc., Hanwha Ocean USA International LLC, Hanwha Shipping Holdings LLC, and HS USA Holdings Corp.
The Korean industry evaluates that Kim Hee-chul has not only led Hanwha Ocean to achieve performance improvement but has also driven corporate system reform. In 2024, Hanwha Ocean achieved operating revenue of 10.776 trillion won (approximately 7.94 billion USD, 56.5 billion RMB, based on annual average exchange rates, same below), a year-on-year increase of 45.5%; operating profit reached 237.9 billion won (approximately 1.75 billion USD, 12.5 billion RMB), turning a profit compared to a loss in the previous year. This marks Hanwha Ocean's first annual profit since 2021. In 2025, operating revenue reached 12.6884 trillion won (approximately 8.92 billion USD, 64 billion RMB), a year-on-year increase of 18%; operating profit reached 1.1676 trillion won (approximately 820 million USD, 5.9 billion RMB), a year-on-year increase of 391%, further solidifying the trend of increasing profitability year by year. This also represents Hanwha Ocean's annual operating profit surpassing the 1 trillion won mark again after a seven-year gap.
Particularly noteworthy is that Kim Hee-chul led the acquisition of Philly Shipyard in the United States, securing a beachhead for Hanwha Ocean's entry into the local market. This move is evaluated as laying the foundation for the US-South Korea shipbuilding cooperation project "MASGA" and enhancing response capabilities.
Kim Hee-chul plans for Hanwha Ocean to focus its efforts on expanding renewable energy business in the future. It is reported that to expand related business, Hanwha Ocean has been active recently. At the end of last year, the company reorganized its Offshore Business Unit (OBU) and Energy & Infrastructure Business Unit (E&I). The Offshore Business Unit will absorb and merge the Energy & Infrastructure Business Unit, restructuring into the Energy Plant Unit (EPU). Meanwhile, Hanwha Ocean, in collaboration with Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Hyundai E&C), jointly signed the EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) turnkey contract for the Shinan UI Offshore Wind Power Project in South Korea, with Hanwha Ocean's contract amount being 1.9716 trillion won (approximately 9.4 billion RMB). In February this year, Hanwha Ocean announced that it acquired a large Wind Turbine Installation Vessel (WTIV) capable of installing 15 MW-class offshore wind turbines from its affiliated company Ocean Wind Power 1 for 768.7 billion won (approximately 524 million USD, 3.633 billion RMB).
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