YANTAI, CHINA – OCTOBER 27 2025: Ships are seen under construction at Hanwha Ocean Shandong Co. Ltd. in Yantai, Shandong province, eastern China, on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. Five U.S.-based subsidiaries of the South Korean company Hanwha Ocean have been put on China’s sanction list to punish its role in prompting the United States to impose additional fees on Chinese shippers and shipbuilders. (Photo credit should read TANG KE / Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Feature China | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Shares of South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean plunged about 23% Tuesday, after the company lost its bid to build Canada’s next fleet of submarines.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Monday that Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, or TKMS, would be the preferred supplier for the submarines.
That is expected to be a setback to Hanwha Ocean, as the contract was estimated to be up to $100 billion over three decades, according to The Korea Times.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on his Facebook page that although the results were not as expected in this Canadian submarine project, “challenges inevitably bring both successes and disappointments. What matters is that we do not stop but continue to move forward,” according to a Google translation of his comments in Korean.
TKMS’ 212CD submarine platform is shared by Germany and Norway, two of Canada’s closest allies. “The announcement marks the start of a new chapter in defence cooperation between three close NATO allies, bringing together shared expertise and common security interests,” TKMS said in a statement.
The TKMS contract will allow Canada access to European defense and industrial networks at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has been piling on pressure over NATO defense spending.
“Canada’s choice of TKMS should therefore not be read as a rejection of South Korea or the Indo-Pacific,” according to Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president of research & strategy at Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.
“It is better understood as a decision that reflects the enduring pull of NATO, Arctic capability, transatlantic defence-industrial integration and procurement risk,” Nadjibulla said.
