
Hapag-Llyod has announced that the South Korean container liner shipping company, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) will join The Alliance as a full member.
It stated that through
this, members of the Alliance have also decided to establish a new cooperation
with four members and a term until 2030. The actions were agreed in Taipei on
19 June 2019. Subject to the necessary regulatory approvals, the new contract
between the four lines will start on 1 April 2020.
“HMM is a great fit for The Alliance as they will provide a number of new and
modern vessels, which will help us to deliver better quality and be more
efficient – and it will help us also to further reduce our emissions,” says
Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.
HMM has ordered twelve 23,000 TEU vessels which will be delivered in the second
quarter of 2020. Additionally, eight 15,000 TEU newbuildings will join HMM´s
fleet in the second quarter of 2021. HMM´s 23,000 TEU newbuildings will be
deployed in the Far East – North Europe trade and will further strengthen The Alliance´s
service portfolio.
“We are very happy to see HMM join The Alliance, as their membership will allow
us to offer enhanced services to our customers due to a wider port coverage,
expansion of our product offerings, more sailing frequencies and a better
balance of our cargo flows,” commented Jeremy Nixon, CEO of Ocean Network
Express.
HMM´s membership will significantly strengthen the competitiveness of The Alliance
towards the other two alliances.
“HMM joining The Alliance is an important milestone for The Alliance as it will
help us to provide a broader service network to the customers and facilitate
the advance of the development of THE Alliance starting from next year,” added
Bronson Hsieh, Chairman and CEO of Yang Ming.
Jae-hoon Bae, President and CEO of HMM: “Being a full member of The Alliance gives
us a lot of pride. We are convinced that we will be successful and generate
additional value for our customers, employees and shareholders with combined
experience, strategic skills, competitive fleet and strong focus on our
clients´ needs.”
The Alliance was founded by Hapag-Lloyd as well as NYK, MOL and “K”Line (which
merged to become Ocean Network Express – ONE) and Yang Ming. It started its
cooperation on 1 April 2017.
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