HMM Places Order for 12 New 13,000 TEU Ultra-Large Vessels Worth 1.8 Trillion KRW

At the shipbuilding contract signing ceremony held on the 29th at Hyundai Busan New Port Terminal (HPNT) in Busan New Port, HMM President Bae Jae-hoon (right) and Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering President Ga Sam-hyun are posing for a commemorative photo after signing.

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] HMM announced on the 29th that it has signed newbuilding contracts for twelve 13,000 TEU-class (1 TEU equals one 20-foot container) ultra-large container ships with two shipbuilders.

The total construction cost for the twelve vessels amounts to 1.7776 trillion KRW, and they are Neo-Panamax class container ships. Hyundai Heavy Industries will build six ships, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering will build the other six. All new vessels are scheduled to be delivered by the first half of 2024.

HMM's new Panamax-class orders are interpreted as efforts to strengthen fleet competitiveness on the trans-Pacific routes, where domestic exporters have been struggling due to a shortage of shipping capacity.

The 13,000 TEU-class Neo-Panamax vessels can pass through the expanded Panama Canal (width 49m, length 366m) since 2016. They have the advantage of freely operating with large container volumes not only to the U.S. East Coast but also to South America.

Through these new orders, the total shipping capacity is expected to approach the target of 1 million TEU by 2022. As of this month, HMM's total capacity is about 800,000 TEU (based on long-term charters over one year), and this order will increase capacity by approximately 156,000 TEU, bringing the total to around 986,000 TEU.

The shipbuilding contract signing ceremony was held at Hyundai Busan New Port Terminal (HPNT) in Busan New Port, attended by HMM President Bae Jae-hoon, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering President Ga Sam-hyun, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering President Lee Sung-geun.

Meanwhile, as part of the government's 2018 'Five-Year Plan for Shipping Reconstruction,' HMM proactively responded to market changes by signing contracts with three domestic shipbuilders to build twenty ultra-large vessels worth about 3.15 trillion KRW. With the deployment of the twentieth and final vessel today in Busan, all twenty ships have now been fully deployed.

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