HD Hyundai said Monday it has secured a 2.13 trillion won ($1.44 billion) contract to build eight ultra-large container ships for Korea’s shipping giant HMM, marking the shipbuilder’s biggest order in 18 years as global demand for high-efficiency vessels remains strong.
HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the shipbuilding unit of HD Hyundai, said the 13,400 twenty-foot equivalent unit, or TEU, vessels will run on dual-fuel liquefied natural gas engines and feature fuel tanks about 1.5 times larger than previous models to boost operational efficiency.
The ships measure 337 meters in length, 51 meters in width and 27.9 meters in height.
Under the contract, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will build two vessels and HD Hyundai Samho will build six, with deliveries scheduled for the first half of 2029.
The deal marks HD Hyundai’s biggest containership order since 2007, when the total capacity of orders secured totaled 793,473 TEUs, during the previous industry boom. HD Hyundai has now booked 69 container ships this year alone, totaling 720,000 TEUs, the highest among Korean shipyards.
HD Hyundai said by installing HiNAS Control on its vessels since 2023, and applying features such as automated speed control, the company has achieved a 15 percent cut in carbon emissions and a 15 percent gain in fuel efficiency. HiNAS Control is an autonomous navigation assistance system developed by its autonomous shipping subsidiary, Avikus.
As a result, HD Hyundai’s container vessels are viewed as competitive in terms of operating costs for shipping companies, despite carrying higher price tags than ships built by rival countries, the shipbuilder noted.
“Backed by differentiated technology and customer trust, we are solidifying our position in the global market,” an HD Hyundai official said, adding that the company aims to lead decarbonization efforts with eco-friendly, high-efficiency vessels.
HD Hyundai has won orders for 116 ships worth $16.22 billion so far this year, reaching nearly 90 percent of its annual target of $18.05 billion.
andreahaneu@heraldcorp.com
