[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] HMM announced on the 27th that it will deploy its first temporary vessel on the Europe route following the Americas route to support exports of domestic companies.
The temporary vessel deployed on the Europe route this time is the 5000TEU container ship "HMM Prestige," which will carry cargo from domestic export companies and depart Busan on the 31st, arriving in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Hamburg, Germany on March 4th and 7th, respectively.
The HMM Prestige is scheduled to sail to Europe carrying a total of 4200TEU of cargo, including 2600TEU of cargo from domestic export companies. Major items include chemical products, steel, machinery, automobile parts, home appliances, tires, and construction materials.
Since August last year until January this year, HMM has deployed temporary vessels nine times on the Americas route alone, including eight times on the West Coast (Busan~LA) and once on the East Coast (Busan~Savannah).
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, maritime cargo volume, which had contracted in the first half of last year, surged in the second half, causing a shortage of space on the Americas route to spread to Europe and Asia routes. HMM decided to deploy temporary vessels promptly to respond accordingly.
HMM also decided to urgently deploy the 1700TEU container ship "Ingenuity" as a temporary vessel on the Russia route. The Ingenuity will depart Busan Port on the 28th and arrive at Vostochny, Russia on the 30th.
An HMM official stated, "Continuous deployment of temporary vessels is expected to be a great help to domestic shippers facing export disruptions," adding, "As sea routes become increasingly important due to COVID-19, we will take the lead in ensuring smooth transportation of export cargo worldwide and in the reconstruction of Korea's shipping industry."
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