HMM posts loss in Q3 2017

South Korea’s largest ocean carrier recorded a net loss of 60.3 billion South Korean won (U.S. $54 million) for the third quarter of 2017.    Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), South Korea’s largest ocean carrier, recorded a net loss of 60.3 billion South Korean won (U.S. $54 million) for the third quarter of 2017, compared to a net profit of KRW 297.1 billion for the third quarter of 2016.
   HMM said it fell into the red because of the loss of KRW 479.5 billion in book value of 10 vessels that were sold to Korea Shipping and Maritime Transportation back in March. In addition, last year’s third quarter net profit was driven by the KRW 1.23 trillion sale of Hyundai Securities, which resulted in a temporary net profit.
   Meanwhile, HMM’s revenues for the third quarter of 2017 reached KRW 1.3 trillion, an increase of 20.1 percent year-over-year, while container volumes shot up 41 percent to 1.05 million TEUs.
   HMM experienced various notable events during the quarter, starting with the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Saigon Newport Corp. on July 6 for the joint development of port and container depot facilities in Vietnam.
   At the end of August, HMM revealed that it is scheduled to acquire two, 11,000-TEU containerships from Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction’s Subic Shipyard in May 2018.
   HMM also revealed at the time that its board of directors finalized the carrier’s plan to invest KRW 470 billion in new facilities for the construction of five, 300,000 deadweight ton very large crude carriers (VLCCs) with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), with an option for five more. The VLCCs are set for sequential delivery in the first half of 2019. HMM signed the letter of intent with DSME for the VLCCs back in April, and the formal contract was signed Sept. 4.
   Meanwhile, HMM completed its first blockchain pilot voyage in early September. The blockchain voyage, which included other members of shipping and logistics blockchain consortium, involved the transport of reefer containers from Busan, South Korea to Qingdao, China from Aug. 24 to Sept. 4.

Correction: A previous version of this story reported that HMM recorded a net loss of KRW 968.7 billion for the third quarter of 2017, but that figure was HMM’s net loss for the first nine months of 2017. HMM’s net loss for the third quarter of 2017 totaled KRW 60.3 billion.