Korea’s Hanwha abandons takeover of Austal – media reports

By Peter Roberts Korea’s Hanwha defence group has abandoned its takeover bid for Australia’s most successful indigenous owned defence manufacturer Austal, according to media reports this morning. The takeover was ended in a letter to Austal from Hanwha Ocean CEO Hyek Woong Kwon titled ‘Termination of discussions with Austal’. The company blamed Austal’s ‘insistence’ that…

Austal awarded $670m contract for n-submarine module construction

Shipbuilder Austal has announced that Austal USA has been awarded a $670 million (US$450 million) contract by General Dynamics Electric Boat for nuclear submarine module construction. The contract will enable Austal USA to expand production capacity at its US shipyard in Mobile, Alabama (pictured) as part of the U.S. Navy Submarine Industrial Base (SIB). It…

K-TIG’s big break into nuclear submarine welding field

Rapid welding technology manufacturer K-TIG’s welding processes have been selected as a potential alternative to conventional gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) of pipe joints for the US nuclear submarine construction programme. K-TIG’s Keyhole TIG / GTAW welding technology, originally developed by CSIRO, has been selected for trials by the US’s prime contractor and lead design…