Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) has teamed up with fellow Korean lines Heung-A and Sinokor to form an intra-Asia container alliance.
The HMM + K2 consortium will launch in March and is the latest move by HMM to create a multi-faceted range of alliances having failed to gain full membership to any of the major container groupings.
HMM said in a release the consortium involves vessel sharing, slot exchanges and slot purchasing with a view to develop the business relationship further to include other deals such as joint port investments.
The three parties already have a working knowledge of each other’s business as they teamed up on a number of regional services last year in the wake of the collapse of another Korean liner, Hanjin Shipping, to help smooth the supply chain fallout from Hanjin’s bankruptcy.
HMM has managed a slot exchange deal on the main east-west tradelanes with 2M, the vessel sharing agreement between Maersk and MSC, which it claims could be reviewed in three years’ time to give it full membership to 2M if it improves its financial standing during the period.
Earlier, while in the midst of restructuring, HMM’s bid to join THE Alliance was thwarted. THE Alliance is a new container grouping made up of Hapag-Lloyd, Yang Ming, MOL, K Line and NYK. It will launch on April 1.
