HMM shortly before friendly takeover
As from April 2020, the South Korean shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) will be operating the "HMM Algeciras", the largest container vessel worldwide. This will ring in the next round of the programme to maximise ships.
This ULCV will have a nominal capacity of 24,000 teu short of 36 boxes. It will be the first of a series of seven units being built at the DSME shipyard facilities in South Korea. The sister vessels will be launched weekly from April, with the following names: "HMM Copenhagen", "HMM Dublin", "HMM Gdansk", "HMM Hamburg", "HMM Helsinki" and "HMM Le Havre".
The new class of the "HMM Algeciras" will be destined for the regular lines between Asia and the North of Europe operated by the consortium The Alliance, which comprises the shipping companies HMM, Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express and Yan Ming. The mega container ships offer more capacity than the six 23,756 teu Gülsün-class units of the Swiss MSC already in service. (mw)