News / HMM adds its fifth extra loader to US east coast

South Korean flagship liner operator HMM has substituted the 1,800 teu multi-purpose vessel HMM Dubai, normally used to carry heavylift & project cargo, to offer an extra loader service to the US.

On 29 May, loaded with 1,232 teu from South Korean exporters, HMM Dubai departed Busan for New York, scheduled to arrive on 30 June.

This was one of 25 extra loader services from HMM since August 2020: 14 to Los Angeles, five to the US east coast, three to Russia, two to Europe and one to Vietnam.

Rocketing freight rates have elevated demand for vessels, making it hard for operators to charter-in additional tonnage. Liner operators have therefore looked at container-carrying multipurpose vessels (MPVs) as alternatives.

HMM has switched seven other MPVs to extra loader services, including MPV Urania, MPV Thalia, HMM Ulsan and Yu Chang, which have carried containers to Savannah, Vostochny, Russia and Hai Phong, Vietnam.

At its government’s urging, HMM has completed several such ad hoc voyages to provide more shipping capacity to small and mid-sized South Korean exporters.

An HMM spokesperson told The Loadstar: “Deploying several multipurpose vessels on the container services results from a challenging situation for securing containerships in the charter market and part of our fleet strategy. It’s hard to say when we decide to put in extra-loaders, as the market situations vary from moment to moment.”