HMM readies orders as $632m state windfall lands
Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), South Korea’s flagship carrier, is about to receive a massive KRW720bn ($632m) in state funds to shore up its financial position as well as order a slew of boxships and tankers.
New state-backed ship finance vehicle Korea Shipping Co will aid HMM financially in various ways.
Some KRW150bn will be earmarked to buy HMM stocks, as well as buying debts convertible into the line’s stocks.
The new ship finance firm will buy 10 HMM boxships and lease them back to the line.
Moreover, HMM will order five boxships and up to three tankers later this year with money from the nation’s new financing program.
HMM, which went through massive restructuring last year, has risen to become South Korea’s number one carrier in the wake of the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping last August.
HMM senior management have recently outlined plans to try and double their global container marketshare to 5% in the coming years.
South Koreans on a bailout frenzy, not exactly in position to understand what they are thinking