HMM (previously known as Hyundai Merchant Marine) is making some big moves this year in regards to the sizes of their vessels. On April 23, 2020 the “HMM Algeciras” set sail on it first voyage. This vessel is the first vessel to hold up to 24,000 TEU’s. This vessel is the first of the twelve 24,000 TEU-class vessels to be delivered until September 2020. This particular vessel was deployed on the far east service. Some of the ports, but not all the ports the vessel will be stopping at, are as follows: Qingdao, Busan, Hamburg, Antwerp, London Gateway, then Singapore via Suez Canal.
The HMM Algeciras just arrived in London, and took about 6 months of planning to get ready for the arrival of the vessel. Just to give some perspective of this monster of a ship, the average container ship holds between ten to fifteen thousand TEU’s per vessel. These new vessels are able to hold just about double the number of containers of what the normal cargo ships handle.
Unfortunately, what the HMM did not plan for was a Pandemic that is affecting the shipping industry. With cancelled and blank sailings, the vessels are not being utilized as the line had hoped. With rates higher now than they were this time last year, the lines are rapidly making changes and adjustments to accommodate both the customer interest and the lines interest. HMM is joining an alliance with carriers such as Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express, and Yang Ming. This partnership will pool resources to replace the existing string of 11 vessels of around 15,000 TEUs, sharing the newly introduced 24,000 TEU ships. This alliance is expected to enhance freight forwarding and freight management capabilities across key trade lanes.
Due to their size and draft requirements, these mega vessels currently service primarily the Asia-North Europe route, as many ports cannot accommodate ships of this scale. The expansion of port availability remains to be seen, but for companies handling cross trade or other international freight shipments, these new vessels offer promising options for more efficient, large-volume ocean freight movement.
For businesses interested in leveraging these advanced ocean freight services for foreign-to-foreign shipments, Jade International’s cross trade department is available to assist in evaluating how these new mega vessels can optimize your supply chain and reduce costs.
