Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), South Korea’s largest shipping company, has officially placed an order for 22 feeder container ships, with the order shared between shipbuilders in China and South Korea. This comes just months after HMM ordered 12 large dual-fuel container ships.
According to the latest disclosures from the Korea Exchange, HMM has signed a shipbuilding contract with Huanghai Shipbuilding for 12 feeder container vessels; the specific vessel types were not disclosed. According to market sources, the batch of container ship orders secured by Huanghai Shipbuilding inclding two vessel types with capacities of 1,800 TEU and 3,000 TEU, respectively; however, the specific number of new ships for each size has not yet been disclosed.
As early as September 2025, market rumors circulated that HMM intended to place orders with Chinese shipbuilder for two feeder container ships, slated for deployment on specific routes across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. At the time, reports indicated that—thanks to cost advantages regarding labor and raw materials—the cost for Chinese shipbuilder to construct small-to-medium-sized container ships was 20% lower than that of their South Korean counterparts, thereby enabling them to outbid South Korean shipbuilders and emerge as the final candidates for the construction contract.
It is worth noting that HMM’s 3,000 TEU container ship construction project will mark the largest-class container ships ever built by Huanghai Shipbuilding.
The largest container ships previously contracted by Huanghai Shipbuilding were 2,800 TEU reefer container ships ordered by Seatrade—the world’s largest operator of refrigerated vessels, based in the Netherlands. The order comprises a total of 2+6 vessels, with the first batch of two ships scheduled for delivery in 2027.
The 1,800 TEU container ships included in this shipbuilding contract represent Huanghai Shipbuilding’s flagship type in the container ship sector, with orders for approximately 70 such vessels signed to date.
According to information from its official website, Huanghai Shipbuilding was established in 1944. Covering an area of 930,000 square meters, the shipyard is capable of repairing and constructing high-tech, high-value-added vessels of up to 100,000 gross tons, with a total construction capacity of 800,000 deadweight tons. To date, the company has built and delivered 27 various types of ro-pax vessels, as well as over 100 multi-purpose vessels of different specifications.
In addition to these 12 new vessels, the 10 container ships announced by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries on March 16 are also reportedly being built for HMM. Based on the disclosed order prices, this batch of vessels appears to consist of 2,800 TEU feeder container ships; these new ships will utilize conventional fuels, with delivery scheduled to be completed by December 2028. If this information proves accurate, it signifies that HMM’s ongoing fleet expansion initiative—spanning multiple vessel segments—is being further realized.