HMM (011200.KS) said Friday that it will begin the first voyage of 'MA2,' a new container service connecting Spain and West Africa.
The MA2 service is the first route under the container division's "hub and spoke" strategy, established after Choi Won-hyeok took office as HMM's president in March last year. It is a feeder network applied to the Europe-Africa region. Centered on Algeciras, Spain—a major port of call on the ocean-going Far East-India-Mediterranean (FIM) route and home to HMM's own terminal—it links major West African ports.
The hub and spoke strategy has large vessels handle the hubs on ocean-going routes, while small and mid-sized feeder vessels connect the feeder network to strengthen services. It can provide shippers with flexible transport routes through various origins and destinations.
A total of five feeder vessels will be deployed on the MA2 service. The ports of call are, in order, Algeciras, Tangier (Morocco), Dakar (Senegal), Tema (Ghana), Lekki (Nigeria), and Abidjan (Ivory Coast), with a round trip taking 35 days.
HMM operated the highly congested West African port segment separately on the MA2 service. Based on this, the company expects to improve the punctuality of its mega vessels while flexibly adjusting the ports of call on the feeder network.
HMM explained that this network diversification follows President Choi's policy of strengthening the competitiveness of the container division. Beyond fleet expansion, the company aims for qualitative growth by expanding the network between ocean-going and near-sea routes and by improving connectivity with its own terminals.
The introduction of feeder vessels to give the strategy concrete shape is also continuing. From last year through this year, HMM secured a total of 27 feeder vessels, including 22 newbuilding orders as well as resales and purchases of used vessels. The company plans to maximize efficiency and profitability by linking them with the mega fleet it currently owns.
"We plan to continuously expand connected services between large vessels and feeder vessels, centered on major global ports," an HMM official said. "We will continue our leap toward becoming a global carrier through fleet and network expansion and the securing of eco-friendly vessels."
