Report: HMM Bolsters China-South Korea-Russia Coverage

HMM South Korean shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) has extended its offering on a route connecting China, South Korea and Russia in order to meet an increased shipping demand, Yonhap News Agency reports.  HMM has been offering services on the route in cooperation with Russian shipping line FESCO and French container shipping giant CMA CGM. Under the revised plan, HMM plans to deploy one boxship on the route every week, according to Yonhap. In addition, FESCO will place two containerships on the route. In 2016, HMM managed to narrow its net loss mainly due to a number of asset sales undertaken during the year. The carriers net loss for the full year shrunk to KRW 4.4 billion (USD 3.8 million) from a net loss of KRW 627 billion (USD 545.3 million) posted in the previous year. HMM was cited earlier as saying that it will continue posting losses until mid-2018 as the container shipping market has been struggling to recover from the huge gap between supply and demand, as well as Hanjin Shipping’s bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg. World Maritime News Staff