HMM’s 12 24,000-TEU commercial container ships set sail

HMM announced Sunday that all 12 24,000-TEU container ships have left South Korea and are sailing Asia and Europe.

Starting with HMM Algeciras in April, HMM now has a total of 12 24,000-TEU commercial container ships, all of which have set sail. The most recent ship it received is “HMM Saint Petersburg,” which was delivered by Samsung Heavy Industries on Friday. Thanks to the government’s program introduced in 2016 with the aim of boosting the shipping industry, HMM can now connect Asia and Europe once a week and has become the world’s eighth largest shipping company by capacity with its total capacity having increased from 400,000 TEU in March to 700,000.

24,000-TEU container ships are the largest ship in the world that can carry up to 23,964 20-feet standard containers, which are six meters long. They have also proven to be commercially viable as the first 10 ships have been fully booked even amid the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. This is mainly attributable to the fact that it saves fuel costs by 13 percent compared to existing 15,000-TEU container ships. HMM will receive eight 16,000-TEU container ships from Hyundai Heavy Industries in the first half of next year in addition to the 12 24,000-TEU ships to increase its total capacity to one million TEU by 2022.


Hyung-Seok Seo skytree08@donga.com