SIMIC

KOREA's HMM has announced that all its twelve 24,000-TEU ships have been entirely filled with cargo on their first voyages in the Asia-Europe trade, reports Hellenic Shipping New Worldwide.
The HMM St Petersburg, the last of the 24 K-class series, departed for Europe from Yantian, with 19,529 TEU aboard. For safe operations, the maximum loadable capacity of each 24,000-TEU ship is 19,300 TEU, said HMM.
All 24,000-TEU ships delivered by HMM made their maiden voyages with a full load of cargo, starting with HMM Algeciras which carried a total of 19,621 TEU.
In particular, HMM Algeciras and its two sister ships, HMM Oslo and HMM Copenhagen, embarked on their second journey full of export shipments from Asia to Europe.
Said HMM chief executive Jae-hoon Bae: "This is a major milestone for us to expand our presence in the global market in close cooperation with THE Alliance. We will take a big step forward to prove what we are capable of in the years ahead."
HMM has returned to profit in the second quarter of this year, achieving an operating profit of US$115 million and a net profit of $23 million, despite high volatility due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
HMM will seek to enhance its profitability based on the seamless operation of 24,000-TEU ships, the realignment of service routes, and a string of cost-cutting measures.