South Korean flagship HMM has signed newbuilding contracts with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering(DSME) and Hyundai Heavy Industries(HHI) for twelve 13,000 teu container vessels, at a total cost of $1.57bn. The orders will take the HMM fleet past the 1m slot mark for the first time.

Under the agreement, DSME and HHI will build six vessels each, all scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2024. All ships will be installed with hybrid scrubbers and designed to be LNG-ready.

An HMM official said, “Our newly ordered containerships will be fitted with the latest energy-efficient technologies. We expect these ships to give us strong environmental credentials, as well as to provide us with the capacity and flexibility to get our customers’ cargo to the right place at the right time.”