South Korean container shipping major Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) will join THE Alliance as a full member.
In addition, the members of THE Alliance have also decided to renew their cooperation and to extend the duration of the partnership for ten years until 2030. Subject to the necessary regulatory approvals, the new contract between the four lines will start on 1 April 2020.
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.
According to a statement, HMM´s membership will significantly strengthen the competitiveness of THE Alliance towards the other two alliances.
Jae-hoon Bae, President and CEO of HMM, commented: «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.»
«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.
With HMM onboard, The Alliance considers it will be better placed to compete with the 2M and Ocean Alliance. «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.
