HMM Achieves Cumulative Transport Volume of 1 Million TEU for 24,000 TEU Class Vessels

When Containers Are Laid Out in a Row, They Stretch 6100 km

The 24,000 TEU container ship 'HMM Gdansk' preparing to set sail after completing unloading operations at the Port of Hamburg, Germany.

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] HMM announced on the 22nd that the cumulative transportation volume of twelve 24,000 TEU-class container ships, the world's largest container vessels, has exceeded a total of 1 million TEU based on export cargo (headhaul) from Asia to Europe.

On the 3rd of this month, the 24,000 TEU-class container ship No. 5, ‘HMM Gdansk,’ departed from Busan New Port carrying 2,803 TEU of domestic export cargo and other freight. The day before, it set sail fully loaded from Yantian Port in China, bringing the cumulative transportation volume to a total of 1,015,563 TEU. The ‘Gdansk’ is scheduled to arrive at Algeciras Port in Spain on the 21st of next month.

Since April last year, from the first ship ‘HMM Algeciras’ to the twelfth ship deployed on the Europe route, a great record was set with 50 out of 52 voyages fully loaded based on headhaul cargo. The remaining two voyages were loaded at 99%. Including backhaul (import cargo) returning from Europe to Asia, a total of 97 voyages have been operated, with a cumulative transportation volume reaching 1,861,633 TEU.

If the 1,015,563 TEU of container boxes (20-foot container length, 6m) carried by the twelve 24,000 TEU-class container ships from Asia to Europe were lined up in a row, the length would be approximately 6,100 km, which is equivalent to making ten round trips between Seoul and Busan.

The government supported the construction of twenty ultra-large container ships, including twelve 24,000 TEU-class and eight 16,000 TEU-class container ships, with the aim of strengthening the competitiveness of the shipping industry and rebuilding maritime transport.

The 24,000 TEU container ship 'HMM Gdansk' loading cargo at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands.

HMM stated that by deploying these ships on its core service route to Europe, it is competing on equal footing with global shipping companies not only on the previously strong Americas route but also on the Europe route, thereby regaining market trust and leading the reconstruction of Korea’s shipping industry.

The total cargo volume carried by the twenty ultra-large ships so far, including headhaul and backhaul, amounts to approximately 2,104,218 TEU over 115 voyages. If these container boxes were lined up, the length would be 12,625 km, which is similar to the diameter of the Earth (about 12,700 km).

With the completion of the deployment of ultra-large ships, HMM’s fleet capacity has more than doubled from 400,000 TEU in 2016 to 820,000 TEU currently. The proportion of ultra-large vessels, which indicates the competitiveness of the shipping company, is about 50%, the highest level among global shipping companies. It is expected that the fleet capacity will exceed 1 million TEU once all twelve 13,000 TEU-class ultra-large container ships ordered in June are delivered by the first half of 2024.

HMM is actively deploying temporary vessels on routes with insufficient capacity, such as the Americas, Europe, Russia, Australia, and Vietnam, to continuously support cargo transportation for domestic export and import companies. In particular, since August last year, temporary vessels have been deployed over a total of 46 voyages, actively contributing to supporting small and medium-sized shippers’ capacity and revitalizing export-import logistics.

Jaehoon Bae, CEO of HMM, said, “Achieving such results was possible thanks to the active support of the government and stakeholders from ship ordering to operation, as well as the efforts of our employees.” He added, “As sea routes become increasingly important due to COVID-19, HMM will lead the smooth transportation of national companies’ export-import cargo worldwide and the reconstruction of Korea’s shipping industry.”