HMM becomes the fourth member of THE Alliance

July 01, 2019: Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), a South Korean container liner shipping company will join THE Alliance as a full member. Through this, the members of THE Alliance have also decided to establish new cooperation with four members and a term until 2030. The actions were agreed in Taipei on 19 June 2019. 

Jae-hoon Bae, president and CEO of HMM, said, "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 a strong focus on our clients needs."

HMM has ordered twelve 23,000 TEU vessels which will be delivered in the second quarter of 2020. Additionally, eight 15,000 TEU new buildings will join HMM's fleet in the second quarter of 2021. HMM's 23,000 TEU new buildings will be deployed in the Far East-North Europe trade and will further strengthen THE Alliances service portfolio.

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," said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.

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.

"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," stated Jeremy Nixon, CEO of Ocean Network Express.

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 April 1, 2017.