THE Alliance, a brand new grouping of six containerlines, only has room for one South Korean member, according to a government official in Seoul, which could spark a merger between Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM).
The government source, speaking on condition of anonymity with local media outlet Business Korea, said THE Alliance, which Hanjin formed this month with partners NYK, MOL, K Line, Yang Ming and Hapag-Lloyd, had room for only one Korean partner. HMM would likely be absorbed by Hanjin, another government source claimed.
HMM has repeatedly stressed it is keen to join THE Alliance once its restructuring process progress. The line did not comment on the media report when contacted by Splash today.
HMM is meeting with bondholders today and tomorrow to try and extend the terms of its repayments. Some bondholders agreed today to reschedule debt worth KRW300bn. Its share price closed the day up 13.56% on KRW18,000.
