Ending Strategic Ties with 2M
Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) will join THE Alliance, one of the world's three shipping alliances, as a regular member in April 2020, the company announced on July 1.
It will sever strategic ties with the 2M (Maersk-MSC) Alliance, the world’s largest shipping alliance, before joining the new alliance.
THE Alliance is a shipping alliance among Hapag-Lloyd of Germany, ONE (born out of a merger among NYK, MOL and K Line) of Japan and Yangming of Taiwan. THE Alliance was forged in April 2017 and is considered one of the world's three shipping alliances, with the other two being the 2M Alliance and the Ocean Alliance.
HMM signed a contract to become a member of The Alliance in Taipei, Taiwan on June 19. The contract will begin on April 1, 2020 after receiving approval from relevant authorities. The contract period is 10 years.
By joining THE Alliance, HMM will put an end to its strategic partnership with 2M in March next year. HMM is expected to boost the competitiveness of THE Alliance in competition among shipping alliances, in particular, on Asia-Americas routes.
HMM is scheduled to receive 12 20,000-TEU container ships in the second quarter of 2020. Eight 15,000-TEU vessels will be delivered to HMM in the second quarter of 2021. HMM's newly built 23,000-TEU vessels will be put into Asia-Northern Europe routes, strengthening the service network of THE Alliance.