HMM Adds Final of Six New 10,000 TEU Boxships
Image Courtesy: HMMSouth Korean shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine has taken delivery of all six 10,000 TEU containerships with the addition of the final one, the Hyundai Pluto, on July 6.
The new boxships started joining the company’s fleet in January 2016, when the first vessel of the type, the Hyundai Earth, joined its owner, followed shorty by another four 10,000 TEU vessels, the Hyundai Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune.
All of the six vessels were chartered by UK’s ship management company Zodiac Maritime.
HMM said that five of these vessels are operating on the North American east coast routes, which pass through the recently expanded Panama Canal, while the remaining one has been operating in South American west coast routes since January.
With these deployments, the shipping firm increased its North American east coast fleet from 4,600 TEU vessels to more than 10,000 TEU ships.
Earlier this week, the company said that it plans to expand its routes which link the Middle East and the Asia regions, as it aims to take advantage of a surge in shipping demand following the lifting of sanction on Iran.
HMM, which currently operates one route between the Middle East and Asia, will send a total of twelve containerships to operate on two separate shipping routes between the regions.
The shipping firm expects its market share for the route to grow from 8 percent to 13 percent.
World Maritime News Staff
