South Korean Shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) has selected three compatriot shipbuilders for the construction of its twenty eco-friendly mega container ships, under the company’s ‘Capacity of 1 Million TEU’ strategy, and the Korean government’s ‘5 Year Plan for Rebuilding Korean Shipping’ plan.
After sending out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to shipbuilding companies on 10 April, HMM has considered all the conditions for newbuilding including delivery date and price of new ships suggested by shipbuilders, and finally selected three shipbuilders to sign a Letter of Intent (LOI) for 20 new vessels:
First, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries will build seven and five 23,000 TEU container ships respectively, which are expected for delivery in the second quarter of 2020.
In addition, HMM selected the country’s largest shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries, for eight 14,000 TEU container ships to be delivered in the second quarter of 2021.
The twelve 23,000 TEU vessels will be deployed in the Asia-North Europe trade and the eight 14,000-TEU vessels to the US East coast trade.
Through this new move, HMM seeks to secure stronger fleet competitiveness and to form a stable basis for making profits in the intensely competitive market.
HMM formed a ‘newbuilding examination committee’ in order to thoroughly review all the conditions and selected shipbuilders followed by fair procedures. After signing a Letter of Intent with shipbuilders, the company will negotiate further details of new shipbuilding including prices and conclude the final agreement.
