Following agreements with bond-holders to adjust debt and shipowners to adjust charter-hire, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) signed an MOU with the 2M Vessel Sharing Agreement (2M VSA) on July 14, for providing joint service to begin from April 2017 upon finalizing negotiations and approval procedures in each country.
2M is an alliance comprised of the world’s largest Container shipping lines, Maersk Line (ML) and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
The MOU is a binding agreement in regards to HMM’s entry to the 2M VSA network. Through the access, HMM will be able to strengthen its service offering and achieve improved cost competitiveness. The 2M carriers will benefit from a reinforced service competency in Asia and improved network cover in the trans-pacific area.
HMM has successfully completed all conditions set out in the voluntary agreement with creditors from March 2016 and in accordance with the completion of such preconditions, the planned debt-for-equity swap by creditors will be executed as planned. Upon completion of said debt-for-equity swap, the financial structure of HMM will be significantly improved and puts HMM in sound position to meet future challenges.
A HMM spokesperson said, “Based on the company’s sound financial structure, HMM will put its utmost efforts into improving our service offering to clients and to continue increasing operational competency in the second half of this year to continue improving profitability of our company”.
