The World's Largest Container Ship 'HMM Algeciras'... Deployed on Asia-Northern Europe Route

Naming Ceremony at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in Geoje on the 23rd

The world's largest container ship, 'HMM Algeciras'

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries held a naming ceremony on the 23rd at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering’s Okpo Shipyard in Geoje, Gyeongnam, for the world’s largest container ship, the HMM (formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine) Algeciras (hereinafter Algeciras).

The Algeciras is the world’s largest container ship capable of carrying 23,964 container boxes at once. The ship measures approximately 400 meters in length, 61 meters in width, and 33.2 meters in height. Its maximum speed is 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h), and it can accommodate a total of 23 people, including the captain.

HMM ordered twelve 24,000 TEU-class ships in September 2018 to achieve economies of scale and secure cost competitiveness through the expansion of ultra-large vessels. The construction cost amounted to 172.5 billion KRW per ship, totaling 2.07 trillion KRW. The financing process involved not only private financial institutions but also policy banks such as the Korea Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, and the Korea Ocean Business Corporation.

The shipbuilding was entrusted to domestic shipbuilders with world-class technology. Seven ships of the same size as the Algeciras (23,964 TEU) are being built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, while five other 23,820 TEU ships are under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries. The twelve ultra-large vessels are scheduled to be delivered sequentially to HMM by September.

Starting with the Algeciras on the 25th of this month, HMM will deploy all twelve ships on the Asia-Northern Europe route within this year to begin weekly services. The ships’ names were chosen to commemorate their deployment on the European route, each named after one of the twelve major European ports.

The 24,000 TEU-class ultra-large vessels are eco-friendly and highly efficient ships built with Korean technology. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries expects that operating ultra-large vessels will reduce operating costs by about 15% compared to the current average 15,000 TEU-class ships on the European route.

The twelve ultra-large vessels are equipped with eco-friendly scrubbers (sulfur oxide reduction devices) to proactively comply with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) environmental regulations. They are also designed to accommodate liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel tanks, allowing future conversion to LNG-powered ships.

By securing a large number of competitive ultra-large vessels, HMM was able to join ‘The Alliance,’ one of the world’s three major shipping alliances, in June 2019. Furthermore, with the alliance cooperation starting on April 1 this year, it is expected that HMM’s business performance will significantly improve through expanded service routes and cost improvements.

Previously, the government established the ‘Five-Year Plan for Shipping Industry Reconstruction’ in April 2018 to rebuild the shipping industry, which was in crisis due to the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping. In July of the same year, the Korea Ocean Business Corporation was launched to support the financial and management sectors of national shipping companies. In particular, to foster HMM, the representative national deep-sea shipping company, into a global carrier, the government has actively promoted the construction of ultra-large vessels. By the end of 2021, when the delivery of eight 16,000 TEU container ships being built by Hyundai Heavy Industries is completed in addition to the twelve 24,000 TEU vessels, HMM is expected to leap from its current world 9th place to 8th place in terms of fleet capacity (870,000 TEU).

Moon Sung-hyuk, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, said, “Today’s naming ceremony marks the first fruit of the government’s efforts to rebuild the shipping industry and will serve as an opportunity to showcase Korea’s shipping competitiveness to the world. We will continue to do our best to expand the fleet and improve the industry’s structure so that Korea can rise to become one of the top five shipping powers globally, and so that our people can clearly feel the changes in the shipping industry.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.