HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has launched the Chimbote, the first of two amphibious support ships being built with Peru's state-run SIMA shipyard for the Peruvian Navy, in what the company described as its first successful co-production of a naval vessel with an overseas shipyard. The second vessel, the Talara, completed all onshore construction processes earlier this month. The program is part of an April 2024 order from the Peruvian Navy covering four vessels, including frigates, offshore patrol vessels and amphibious support ships. The Peru project marks a shift from HD Hyundai's conventional model of building ships in South Korea and delivering finished products to a local co-production structure based on technology cooperation. Under that arrangement, HD Hyundai provides design and technical support, while SIMA uses its own facilities for block production and assembly, outfitting, testing and sea trials. Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori said the project was helping build future capabilities as well as creating jobs, developing human resources and expanding the shipbuilding supply chain. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries also said it is carrying out the basic design for the Peruvian Navy's next-generation 1,500-ton submarine and is coordinating with the Peruvian government to start construction of the lead vessel once design work is completed.