Hyundai Merchant Marine

Hyundai Merchant Marine, or HMM, is a shipping company based in South Korea. International shipping is a dangerous industry; navigating and operating these large vessels can lead to accidents, including collisions and oil spills. When these accidents happen, the maritime company must take responsibility for any injured workers and provide them with adequate compensation.

About HMM

HMM was founded in 1976 and quickly grew to be the second-largest shipping company in South Korea and eventually among the largest such companies in the world. HMM integrates logistics with shipping, has a large fleet of diverse vessels, and can transport specific types of cargo and specialized cargo.

The company has four international headquarters, several subsidiaries, over 50 sea routes, and more than 100 ports. In terms of container capacity, HMM is the 15th largest company in the world.

Hyundai Merchant Marine History

HMM began in 1976 as Asia Merchant Marine with three tankers in its initial feet.

• Within one year, the new company offered bulk cargo, tramp, and tug service and added two more bulk carriers to its small fleet.
• Regular liner service from East Asia to the Middle East began in 1978, and the company was containerized and shipping container cargo to the Middle East by 1979.
• Over several more decades, the company would continue to grow, adding services, diversified operations, and more vessels to its fleet.
• One of the specialized services was automobile transport, and the company purchased and used the first car carrier in Korea.
• Specialized transportation of ore and other raw materials also began in the 1980s.
• The name of the company was changed to Hyundai Merchant Marine in 1982.
• As HMM grew, it added more routes and international offices, including those in Tokyo, Jakarta, London, and Hong Kong.
• By 1990, the company was offering complete intermodal services in the U.S. and had added the transportation of liquefied natural gas to its list of services. 
• In 2017, HMM joined a vessel-sharing alliance known as 2M with Maersk and MSC.

The HMM Fleet

HMM has a large fleet of 64 container ships and 23 tankers. The extensive container fleet allows the company to focus on container shipping and includes vessels with twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) capacities ranging from around 2,000 to over 10,000.

The company fleet has a TEU capacity of nearly 500,000. The tanker fleet comprises 16 VLCCs, or very large crude carriers, nine clean tankers, and four chemical tankers. About half of the tanker fleet is committed to regular service contracts, while the others are reserved for on-the-spot transportation.

HMM Operations

HMM’s focus has long been on container shipping, although the company also engages in bulk shipping, specialized cargo shipping, and intermodal services.

The company’s container shipping segment follows over 60 routes around the globe and is active in more than 100 ports. It collaborates with many of the world’s major shipping companies. Specialty services include shipping dangerous cargo, oversized cargo, and reefer cargo.

HMM container shipping routes include the Trans-Pacific, Inter-Asia, and Trans-Atlantic. In late 2023, HMM became the latest shipping company to reroute vessels around the Red Sea due to the danger from Yemen Houthi militia attacks. 

Tanker service includes regular crude oil shipping to and from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa using the fleet’s VLCCs. The tanker services also include dry cargo shipping, coal and iron ore, and liquid chemicals, including petroleum and non-petroleum products. Smaller tankers in the fleet move chemicals between Asian locations.

In 2007, HMM added a heavy lift service to its operations. This includes lifting and transporting super-heavy equipment for wind power, petrochemical projects, and power plant facilities.

The company transports heavy project cargo to locations in East Asia, the Middle East, and India.

Accidents at HMM

Cargo and container shipping is a risky business. It takes a lot of planning and care to ensure accidents don’t occur. Even with the best safety and environmental policies, most shipping companies experience accidents, as has HMM.

When these accidents occur, sensitive ecosystems can be damaged, and workers can be hurt and even killed in the worst cases.

Environmental Accident

HMM had an accident in 1991 that was devastating to the environment and was sued by the United States as a result.

The incident occurred on October 2 of that year when one of its ships ran aground at the Shumagin Islands near Kodiak, Alaska.

A tank holding 200,000 gallons of bunker oil fractured and spilled into the water. The ship remained grounded for days, and the spill expanded rapidly. The U.S. won damages from HMM to contain and clean up the spill.

Ship Collisions

Another common type of accident that shipping companies like HMM experience is a collision. Large container and carrier ships are difficult to control, and collisions between them are not uncommon.

In many cases, no one is hurt, but workers are at risk of falling overboard, falling on the ship, being struck by cargo, and other types of accidents and resulting injuries in these collisions.

In 2011, the HMM ship Discovery collided with another container ship in Singapore. In this case, the two ships were lucky to have no injuries to people and no spills, but both ships were significantly damaged. Visibility may have played a role in the accident, as it was low in heavy rain conditions.

Another collision occurred in the East China Sea in 2004 when the Dominion collided with another container ship. Again, despite damage to the vessel, no one was hurt.

Maritime Worker Injuries

Although no one was injured in the above examples of maritime accidents, there was a potential for it. In the latter case, workers on board the vessels were found to have worked more hours than allowed. This could have easily contributed to the accident and caused people to be seriously hurt.

It is the responsibility of a maritime company to keep its workers safe, including ensuring they are not tired on the job. In many ways, accidents on these ships can happen, and workers can be hurt or killed. Precautions must be taken, but they are not always.

If you are injured while working for a maritime company, you can seek money to help cover the costs associated with your injuries. Maritime laws are in place to ensure that you have that right.

Make sure that you consult with and take the advice of a maritime lawyer, though. Without that professional advice, you may not get all that you are owed in the event of a maritime accident.