Pledging to Rebuild Korean Shipping Industry
Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) pledged to rebuild the Korean shipping industry during a christening ceremony for a very large crude oil carrier (VLCC) on Jan. 29.
HMM held the christening ceremony for the 300,000-ton VLCC “Universal Leader” at the Mokpo Shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).
The Universal Leader is the first among the five ships to be built by DSME under a contract signed between HMM and DSME in September 2017. HMM will receive a total of five ships from DSME at an interval of two months until September of this year. The five vessels are loaded with scrubbers in preparation for the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s regulations on sulfur oxides which will be implemented starting next year.
HMM struck a deal to purchase the VLCC from DSEM for approximately US$420 million in 2017 when shipbuilding prices were at the lowest since 2003.
"Starting with the five VLCCs, we are scheduled to receive 12 20,000-TEU vessels in 2020 and eight 150,000-TEU vessels in 2021. We will keep our promise to rebuild the Korean shipping industry based on them whatever it takes," said HMM CEO Yoo Chang-keun during the christening ceremony for the Universal Leader at Okpo Shipyard of DSME.