German bank HSH Nordbank has swooped for nine neopanamax Hanjin Shipping boxships and is leasing them to the partners of the 2M alliance, Splash can reveal. No prices have been revealed in the deal. Maersk will take six of the ships and MSC the other three. The first ship will deliver in December.
The move throws the future of Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) once again into doubt. HMM had been tipped to take on Hanjin’s five largest ships – all 13,000 teu vessels – helping make its case for joining 2M.
HMM, having been shunned by another container grouping THE Alliance, sought to join 2M, and has signed an MoU with Maersk and MSC on the matter. However, since then MSC officials have made clear HMM’s entry into the alliance is not guaranteed.
For Hanjin, the paring back of its fleet comes as it moves to reposition itself as an intra-Asia operator. It has until December 19 to come up with a rehabilitation plan to show to a court in Seoul having sought court protection at the end of August.
snapping a build that costs around 100-110m to put together for a measly approx. 24m a piece ain’t a bad deal after all.