Liner operator Korea Marine Transport Co (KMTC) has returned to Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) for more feeder containership newbuildings.
Market sources said Seoul-based KMTC has signed up for two more 2,500-teu boxships at the South Korean shipyard for delivery in the last quarter of 2020.
The order brings KMTC's stable of 2,500-teu ships to five.
Return to building
KMTC’s initial three-ship order — reported to cost $35.7m each, with delivery slated from the second half of 2020 — was placed in March and marked the liner company’s return to the shipbuilding market after an absence of seven years.
The last time it signed up for newbuildings was in 2012, when it contracted Daesun Shipbuilding to build a 1,048-teu boxship. KMTC took delivery of that vessel, which it named the Sunny Iris, in 2013.
Officials at HMD declined to disclose details of the order, citing contract confidentiality, while a KMTC executive also declined to comment on his company’s fleet activities.
Market sources said KMTC’s latest pair of newbuildings do not represent option vessels, and the contract is still subject to approval from the firm’s board of directors.
On the chartering front, KMTC has fixed six Bangkokmax vessels from Japanese tonnage provider Nissen Kaiun.
It was reported to have chartered the 1,800-teu containerships — under construction at HMD and due for delivery next year — for 10 years at about $12,000 per day.
