Hyundai Glovis Introduces World’s First Car Carrier Capable of Transporting Over 10,000 Vehicles

Carries 10,800 Compact Cars... World's Largest Scale
Total Cargo Space Equals 28 Football Fields
Fleet of Car Carriers to Expand to 128 Ships Within 5 Years
Aims to Transport 5 Million Finished Vehicles Annually by Sea
Non-Affiliate Sales Accounted for 53% Last Year... "Driven by China"

Hyundai Glovis has introduced the world’s first pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) capable of transporting more than 10,000 vehicles. The company plans to further strengthen its business competitiveness in the global finished vehicle maritime transport market, while also supporting the export efforts of domestic automakers.

On April 29, Hyundai Glovis announced that it will deploy the “Glovis Leader,” an ultra-large PCTC with a capacity of 10,800 vehicles, for finished vehicle maritime transport.

The vessel naming ceremony was held on April 28 at the GSI Shipyard in Guangzhou, China, and was attended by key figures including Kyubok Lee, CEO of Hyundai Glovis. The vessel measures 230 meters in length and 40 meters in width, with a weight of 102,590 tons. Inside, there are 14 cargo decks, and the total cargo space is equivalent to about 28 football fields.

This ship can carry up to 10,800 vehicles, based on compact car standards. Among global car carrier operators, Hyundai Glovis is the first to introduce a PCTC with a capacity exceeding 10,000 vehicles, and as of now, this vessel is the largest PCTC in the world.

Additionally, the ship is equipped with a dual-fuel liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion engine and supports the use of onshore power supply (AMP) facilities, making it suitable for tightening environmental regulations such as the European Union’s Emissions Trading System.

AMP refers to infrastructure that supplies electricity from land to docked ships. While berthed, ships typically use their own fuel-powered generators—running on bunker C oil—to operate onboard refrigeration and cooling systems, resulting in emissions of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and fine dust. By receiving electricity from land instead of generating it onboard, pollutant emissions can be significantly reduced.

Hyundai Glovis plans to circulate this PCTC across all major global shipping routes. Including this new vessel, the company aims to expand its operating PCTC fleet to 128 ships by 2030. Leveraging this large-scale fleet, Hyundai Glovis has set a goal to increase its annual volume of finished vehicles transported by sea from the current 3.4 million units to 5 million units by 2030.

If the company achieves this goal, Hyundai Glovis is projected to handle over 20% of the world’s finished vehicle maritime transport volume.

To reach this target, Hyundai Glovis is actively securing non-affiliate cargo volumes in addition to volumes from affiliate companies. Last year, the company signed maritime transport contracts with multiple finished vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) in Europe, North America, and China.

In particular, with the recent increase in finished vehicle exports from China, Hyundai Glovis’s fleet utilization rate has risen. Notably, in 2025, non-affiliate sales accounted for approximately 53% of Hyundai Glovis’s finished vehicle maritime transport revenue, surpassing affiliate sales.

Industry experts believe that Hyundai Glovis’s continued introduction of PCTCs will help alleviate the global shortage of car carrier capacity.

In recent years, the rapid surge in Far East vehicle export volumes has led to ongoing shortages of PCTC capacity, with geopolitical risks in the Middle East and Red Sea regions compounding the situation and further intensifying the shortage.

A Hyundai Glovis representative stated, “We will continue to enhance our competitiveness in finished vehicle maritime transport and strive to provide stable supply chain services to global shippers.”

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