Last week, South Korean shipping company HMM announced plans to order eight 13,000-TEU container ships; this major order has now been officially finalized.
On October 20, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), a shipbuilding intermediate holding company of HD Hyundai Group’s shipbuilding business—announced that it had signed a contract with HMM to build eight 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container ships. The total value of the order is 1.9196 trillion won (about $1.44 billion), which works out to approximately $180 million per vessel.
The new ships will be constructed by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (Ulsan shipyard) and HD Hyundai Samho, with the former building two vessels and the latter building six. Delivery to the owner is expected to take place progressively between now and 2029.
Including the eight 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container ships ordered in 2025, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Samho will build a total of 16 vessels of this type for HMM—with 4 to be constructed by the former and 12 by the latter—at a total contract value of approximately $2.88 billion.
This container ship has an overall length of 337 meters, a beam of 51 meters, and a draft of 27.9 meters; it is equipped with a dual-fuel propulsion system capable of running on either liquefied natural gas (LNG) or conventional marine fuel; it is fitted with independent LNG fuel tanks manufactured by HD Hyundai Ecovina.
With this latest order, HD KSOE has secured a total of 182 new vessel orders so far this year, valued at $20.19 billion—reaching approximately 86.6% of its annual order target of $23.31 billion.
The order book, broken down by vessel type, includes 17 LNG carriers, 38 container ships, 57 LPG/ammonia/liquid CO2 carriers, 11 crude oil tankers, 53 product tankers, 2 car carriers, 2 Ro-Ro vessels, 1 icebreaker, and 1 floating storage and regasification unit (LNG-FSRU).
By vessel type, the fleet includes 17 LNG carriers, 38 container ships, 57 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)/ammonia/liquefied carbon dioxide carriers, 11 crude oil tankers, 53 product tankers, 2 car carriers, 2 RO-RO vessels, 1 icebreaker, and 1 floating storage and regasification unit (LNG-FSRU).
Commenting on the latest orders, a representative from HD Hyundai stated: “Inquiries from major global shipowners for LNG carriers, LPG carriers, and container ships continue to arrive. Leveraging our accumulated design and construction expertise—as well as the trust of our clients—we intend to expand our order book for high-value, eco-friendly vessels and maximize our profitability.”
As for the shipowner, HMM initially announced on October 15 that it would order 8 13,000-TEU container ships and simultaneously acquire 4 resold newbuilds, with a total investment of approximately $1.617 billion. Excluding the eight new vessels ordered directly, the total investment for the four resold vessels (three 2,800-TEU container ships and one 1,700-TEU container ship) is approximately $177 million; information regarding the sellers and shipyards has not yet been disclosed.
This investment plan for 12 container ships marks the latest step in HMM’s implementation of its “2030 Mid-to-Long-Term Growth Strategy.” Under this strategy, the company intends to invest approximately 29 trillion won by 2030 into areas such as its fleet, ports, and logistics infrastructure, with the goal of expanding its container fleet from the current 73 vessels to 166, and its bulk carrier fleet from 50 vessels to 110.
With the signing of contracts for another 8 new vessels, HMM has ordered over 40 container ships since 2024. These include 16 units of 13,000 TEU and 10 units of 2,800 TEU container ships from shipyards under HD Hyundai; 4 units of 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container ships from Hanwha Ocean; and 5 units of 2,000 TEU and 7 units of 3,000 TEU container ships from Huanghai Shipbuilding. Delivery of these new vessels is scheduled between 2028 and 2029.
According to Alphaliner data, HMM is the world’s eighth-largest liner shipping company, with a market share of approximately 3% and a current fleet comprising 97 container ships, representing a total capacity of about 1 million TEU.