HMM Writes a $1.6 Billion Check: Twelve Ships, Two Delivery Waves, and a Quieter Strategy Shift

The timing tells you something. Freight rates are still elevated, the Red Sea diversion is unresolved, and the Strait of Hormuz has just had its worst week of the year — and South Korea's largest container line chose this moment to commit $1.6 billion to new tonnage. On 15 October, HMM's board approved a KRW 2.168 trillion investment programme covering twelve containerships: eight 13,000 teu newbuildings, three 2,800 teu vessels and one 1,700 teu unit acquired as resale newbuildings — ships originally ordered by other owners and taken over before delivery. Together they add 114,100 teu. The regulatory filing prices the deal at exactly $1,617,156,000, equal to 8.16% of consolidated equity, with final delivery by 31 December 2029. No yards were named, and no fuel specification was disclosed for the eight big ships — both details worth watching, because the previous batch was explicitly LNG dual-fuel.

That previous batch matters for context. In October 2025 HMM ordered twelve 13,000 teu LNG dual-fuel container ships — eight at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, four at Hanwha Ocean — plus two VLCCs in a programme worth roughly KRW 4 trillion. Those ships arrive between the second half of 2028 and the first half of 2029, which means HMM now has two overlapping waves of 13,000 teu deliveries landing within about a year of each other. As of mid-October the carrier operated 97 containerships of about 1.03 million teu, with an orderbook of 36 ships totalling 220,642 teu before this latest approval.

The more interesting story is in the strategy revision. HMM's updated 2030 plan, approved on 24 July, targets 166 containerships with 1.47 million teu of capacity, backed by a KRW 29 trillion ($22 billion) investment programme and a bulk fleet of 110 vessels. The 2024 version targeted 130 ships and 1.55 million teu. Read those two lines together: 36 more ships, 80,000 teu less capacity. More hulls, smaller average size. HMM calls the structure hub-and-spoke — large vessels on the mainline trades, smaller and mid-sized ships feeding regional cargo through hub ports. The feeder build-out is already visible: the carrier secured 24 feeder vessels in the six months to April, and its MA2 Mediterranean-West Africa service with Ocean Network Express, launched in July with five 2,800 teu ships on a 35-day loop, is the template in operation.

For cargo owners the implications split into two windows. Before 2027, none of this touches rates — pricing power still sits with the Red Sea, Hormuz and port congestion. From 2028, two delivery waves plus the industry-wide orderbook point to a meaningful capacity release on mainline trades, and shippers signing long-term contracts will hold better cards. The feeder expansion is the near-term benefit: more frequent hub connections out of Busan and other relay ports for regional and transshipment cargo. None of it fills a ship this peak season, though — space has to be booked now. Yufeng International Logistics covers transpacific mainline capacity plus inland combinations on its US services — see the USA routes page or write to sales@ruixincargo.com.

Sources: Based on reporting by Xinde Marine News, World Ports, Seven Seas Shipping, NavilinkGlobal and China Shipping Gazette.