HMM has signed newbuilding contracts with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Hyundai Heavy Industries(HHI) for twelve 13,000 TEU container vessels, at a total cost of $1.57 billion.
In a statement, HMM said that under the agreement with DSME, each company will build six vessels, respectively, scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2024. All ships will be installed with hybrid scrubbers and designed to be LNG-ready.
An HMM official said, “Our newly ordered containerships will be fitted with the latest energy-efficient technologies.
“We expect these ships to give us strong environmental credentials, as well as to provide us with the capacity and flexibility to get our customers’ cargo to the right place at the right time.”
It is the latest effort HMM have made to improve its container shipping capacity after launching a new fleet of mega-ships in March 2021 with the maiden voyage of the 16,000 TEU HMM Nuri.
The container shipping industry has come under increasing pressure in recent months as the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of e-commerce has increased demand and congestion on trade lanes and at container ports.
Carriers such as HMM, Hapag-Lloyd and Mediterranean Shipping Company MSC (MSC) have increased both their fleets and the sizes of the vessels.
