HMM is closing in on an order for a series of neo-panamax containership newbuildings worth more than $1.44bn.
Several shipping sources told TradeWinds that the South Korean liner company plans to order 12 vessels of 13,000 teu.
It has contacted the three major domestic shipbuilders for quotes: Samsung Heavy Industries; Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering; and Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, which controls Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.
A shipyard executive confirmed HMM’s interest and said the 12 newbuildings are firm ships that will be conventionally fuelled.
The order is part of the owner's goal of having a fleet capacity of 1.1m teu by 2025.
HMM officials were not available for comment, but a shipbuilding source believes the company will be quick to select a shipyard, as it needs “to order the vessels while the containership sector is still going strong”.
“It is easier for a company to get approval from its board of directors when the business is bringing in a profit,” the source said. “Financial institutions are also more willing to dish out loans when the sector is stable.”
The strong shipbuilding market is another reason HMM will not be sitting on the project, as yards are running out of early berths. The Big Three South Korean yards are said to have sold out their 2023 delivery slots and some in early 2024.
With the strong demand for containership newbuildings and the rising cost of shipbuilding materials, HMM is expected to be paying more than $120m apiece for the vessels, according to a shipbuilding source.
He added that HMM has the support of the government in ordering the newbuildings.
Local media reported last month that the Ministry of Oceans & Fisheries was ready to financially support HMM in the construction of 10 containerships of between 10,000 teu and 13,000 teu to ensure it can remain competitive.
The funding for the newbuildings will come from ship finance fund Korea Ocean Business Corp among others.
HMM is the eighth-largest liner company in the world, with a capacity of 768,600 teu, according to Alphaliner.
Its fleet will be increased to 864,600 teu by June when it takes delivery of six 16,000-teu newbuildings from HHI that were part of an eight-ship order placed three years ago.
HMM’s interest in neo-panamax newbuildings of between 13,000 teu and 16,000 teu began late last year. Sources described this range of containership as the standard “workhorse” for transpacific or North-South trades.
Clarksons' Shipping Intelligence Network data shows that around 150 neo-panamax containerships are booked at shipyards, of which 114 were ordered in the past six months.
