HMM buys Algeciras terminal

South Korea’s largest shipping company is purchasing 100 percent of shares in Total Terminal International Algeciras, which was previously operated by now-defunct ocean carrier Hanjin Shipping.    Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) is purchasing a port terminal in Spain for 117.6 billion South Korean won (U.S. $105.2 million), according to a filing on the DART Repository of Korean Corporate Filings.
   HMM, which is now South Korea’s largest shipping company, is buying 100 percent of the shares of Total Terminals International Algeciras (TTIA) from Algeciras Terminal Investment (SPC).
   HMM was selected as the preferred bidder for the port facility in November 2016, and the formal contract is scheduled to be signed today.
   The Port of Algeciras is located at the southern tip of Spain, just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco. TTIA is a common user terminal capable of handling vessels up to 18,000 TEUs, according to the Port of Algeciras. The terminal is equipped with eight ship-to-shore cranes, 32 automatic stacking cranes and 22 shuttle carriers.
   According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting’s Terminal Analysis, TTIA is frequented by 16 liner services that connect the terminal to region’s outside the Mediterranean. Vessel operators include APL, Arkas Line, CMA CGM, COSCO, Hamburg Süd, Hapag-Lloyd, Marfret, Marguisa, NileDutch, OOCL, Seago Line, UASC, X-Press Feeders and ZIM.
   TTIA was previously operated by Hanjin Shipping, which was formerly the largest container carrier in South Korea. Hanjin filed for court receivership in South Korea in late August 2016 and was officially declared bankrupt by a South Korean bankruptcy court in February 2017.
   HMM, which has acquired several of Hanjin’s former assets, has said the terminal is one of the more lucrative remaining pieces of the former company.
   In January, HMM’s board of directors decided to purchase a 20 percent stake in Total Terminals International (TTI), which has facilities in Long Beach and Seattle. Hanjin previously held a 54 percent stake in TTI. In February, HMM also entered into a contract to acquire Hanjin’s terminals at the ports of Tokyo and Kaohsiung.