News / HMM upsizes plan to boost box shipping fleet with extra orders

HMM has decided it needs more ships to support its hub-and-spoke model for liner shipping.

On Friday, the South Korean flagship carrier’s directors approved a $19.7bn budget to take its fleet to 166 containerships, or 1.55m teu,  and the expansion of its bulk carrier fleet to 110, or 13.52m dwt, by 2030.

This means HMM’s mid-term plan from 2024 for its container shipping fleet to reach 130 vessels, of 1.47m teu, and 12.56m dwt of dry bulk shipping capacity by 2030, has been upsized.

Also on Friday, HMM announced that its US subsidiary, Washington United Terminals (WUT), which operates facilities in Tacoma port in Washington state, has ordered four new cranes from HD Hyundai Samho.

The Tacoma terminal opened in 1999 and has eight quay cranes and six yard cranes. The new cranes will replace two aging quay cranes and add more two yard cranes, allowing WUT to accommodate larger containerships and raise its annual cargo handling capacity from 590,000 teu to 880,000.

HMM had previously told The Loadstar the company wanted to strengthen its ocean-going and shortsea container shipping networks based on a hub-and-spoke system of large vessels serving as hubs on long-haul routes, while small and mid-sized ships support them. The carrier also aims to rebuild its market share in intra-Asia shipping.

As of June, HMM owns 96 container vessels of 1.02m teu, and 61 bulk carriers with a capacity of 7.86 million dwt. Last October, the carrier ordered a dozen 13,000 teu LNG dual-fuelled containerships from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean.