HMM, 70% Increase in Shipping Capacity After One Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] HMM's total shipping capacity has increased by more than 70% in one year. The supply of ultra-large container ships led the overall increase in shipping capacity.

According to HMM's fleet status as of the end of last month, the total shipping capacity of long-term charters over one year was 750,619 TEU, a 70.9% increase compared to the same period last year (439,171 TEU). During the same period, the total number of vessels owned increased by 21.4%, from 56 to 68 ships.

In particular, the number of ultra-large container ships classified as 16,000 to 24,000 TEU vessels increased by 15 ships in one year, accounting for 44.6% (334,878 TEU) of the total shipping capacity. If the additional delivery of five 16,000 TEU vessels is completed in the first half of this year, the share of ultra-large vessels in total shipping capacity is expected to reach 50%.

HMM's shipping capacity began to increase after securing 20 ultra-large container ships with government support of 3.1 trillion KRW in 2018 to realize economies of scale.

Starting with the delivery of the world's largest container ship, the 24,000 TEU-class 'HMM Algeciras' in April last year, a total of 12 ships have been delivered and deployed on the Asia-Europe route. This enabled weekly operations on the Asia-Europe route, laying the foundation for HMM's return as a global shipping company.

HMM aims to achieve 1 million TEU by 2022. To this end, it is reviewing new orders for 12 new 13,000 TEU container ships with the government in the first half of this year.

The industry expects that HMM will achieve record-high performance as its shipping capacity increases amid a surge in global cargo volume linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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