Phl, South Korea eye green shipbuilding training center

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has revealed a plan with South Korean partners to establish a specialized training center to produce builders of eco-friendly ship.

DoLE Secretary Francis Tolentino described the proposed Training Center for Eco-Friendly Shipbuilding Specialists (TCESS) as a cornerstone of the country’s “blue economy” strategy when he spoke at the opening of Beacon Expo 2026 at the SMX Convention Center on 29 September.

The facility would be developed jointly with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and the Korea Marine Equipment Research Institute (KOMERI), he added.

TCESS is envisioned to train welders, fitters, pipefitters, and marine engineers in high-end processes required by modern low-carbon vessels, such as liquefied natural gas cargo-tank membrane welding, ammonia and hydrogen fuel piping, and work on methanol-ready and composite-material ships.

DoLE said the project aims to ensure that as global shipping decarbonizes under stricter International Maritime Organization rules, Filipino workers can move into higher-value, higher-pay technical roles instead of being left behind by automation and new technologies.

As of late September, the training center remains in the feasibility and design phase.

HHI and KOMERI are conducting an official development assistance-funded feasibility study starting in the second half of 2026, covering technical design, cost estimates, site options, and implementation modalities.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)will be the key partner for curricula, certification, and training delivery.

Public reports consistently point to Zambales province, closely tied to the revived HD Hyundai Subic Bay shipyard, as the most likely location for the TCESS.

TESDA already runs a shipbuilding training program with HD Hyundai in Subic, which has produced its first cohorts of welding graduates now employed at the yard; the new center would be a scaled-up, eco-focused extension of this existing partnership.

The training center is one of several workforce initiatives DoLE highlighted at Beacon Expo 2026, alongside programs such as JobStart Philippines and industry-led upskilling tracks in IT-BPM. But unlike general employability schemes, the shipbuilding center is explicitly tied to green technologies and advanced manufacturing.

Maritime industry groups see the project as a long-term competitiveness tool: when larger greenship projects come online in Subic and potentially elsewhere, there would be a local, certified workforce ready to staff them, reducing reliance on foreign specialists.

Over the coming months, HHI, KOMERI, DOLE, and TESDA are expected to finalize the feasibility study, agree on funding and governance arrangements, and begin detailed curriculum design. If pushed through as planned, the center could start accepting trainees within the next few years, timed with the ramp up of HD Hyundai’s Subic operations and other planned shipbuilding and offshore-wind projects.