HMM Adds 3 Temporary Vessels for Americas Route

HMM Shanghaiho

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] HMM announced on the 12th that it will deploy three additional temporary vessels to support the smooth export activities of domestic companies.

HMM has so far deployed temporary vessels across a total of 21 voyages including the U.S. West Coast (Busan~LA) and East Coast (Busan~Savannah), Europe, Russia, and Vietnam. These three new vessels will all be deployed on the U.S. routes, where domestic small and medium-sized export companies have been continuously facing space shortages.

The 6,800 TEU container ship "HMM Shanghai" scheduled to depart will leave Busan Port today carrying 6,056 TEU of cargo. More than 60% of the total cargo consists of shipments from domestic mid-sized and small shippers, and it is expected to arrive at the Port of LA on the 24th.

The 1,800 TEU multipurpose vessel "Eurania" will depart Busan on the 19th and is expected to arrive at Savannah on the U.S. East Coast on the 14th of next month. This temporary vessel is a multipurpose ship, not a container ship, urgently deployed to support export companies.

Typically, multipurpose vessels transport ultra-large special cargo and heavy cargo such as petrochemical equipment and power generation facilities, but they are designed to also carry containers when necessary.

HMM explained that since it is virtually impossible to secure additional container ships in the current ship charter market, it is deploying multipurpose vessels as temporary ships to alleviate difficulties faced by domestic export companies.

The third vessel to be deployed, the 6,300 TEU "HMM Auckland," is scheduled to depart Busan on the 23rd of this month heading to LA on the U.S. West Coast. The "Auckland" is currently in service for HMM's India route but will be urgently deployed to support export logistics to the U.S.

Since August last year, HMM has deployed a total of 21 temporary vessels: 12 times on the U.S. West Coast (Busan~LA), 3 times on the U.S. East Coast (Busan~Savannah, Busan~New York), 3 times to Russia, 2 times to Europe, and once to Vietnam. Including the three vessels departing this time, the total will increase to 24.

An HMM official said, "We are continuously deploying temporary vessels using all available means," adding, "As a leading national shipping company, we will take responsibility and make every effort to ensure that export companies' cargo is transported safely and without disruption."