HMM announced that it had signed a charter contract to lease six 10,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) container vessels from London-based Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd. The six ships will be delivered progressively through the middle of 2016, and join a fleet of HMM vessels, including those to be built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., on a 12-year operating lease.

HMM anticipates that the jumbo-izing of container vessels will be accelerated through this charter contract, and plans to deploy five 13,100 TEU container vessels on its Asia-Europe line from 2014 and onwards. The new ships HMM adds through this contract bring its total number of vessels handling cargo from Asia and Europe to 10. Once all ships are in operation in 2016, HMM will possess 16 10,000 TEU-plus ships as part of its fleet.

The new containerships will be deployed along the Trans-Pacific and East Coast trade, helping to reduce cargo costs. At present, ships from Asia tend to travel to the West Coast of the United States and disembark/pick-up at ports like Long Beach. This situation has led to added overland shipping costs, as cargo must be moved long distances by land when originating from the East Coast and other parts of the US.

HMM also anticipates that this move will add to the competitive joint services of the G6 Alliance, providing further differentiated value. The G6 Alliance is the world largest maritime carrier alliance comprised of Hyundai Merchant Marine, APL, Hapag-Lloyd, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Nippon Yusen Kaisha and Orient Overseas Container Line.

This agreement with one of the UK's leading ship owner signifies HMM's reputation for excellence abroad, an HMM official said in a statement. With this charter contract, our main containers will be upgraded to the 10,000 TEU level, allowing us to provide improved services to our customers.

HMM and Zodiac have been doing business together since 2001.