The financially troubled South Korean line, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), has rejected a report in Business Korea that it could be forced to merge with the other Korean state-owned carrier, Hanjin Shipping, if it wanted to be a member of THE Alliance – a recently formed vessel sharing agreement (VSA) on the main east-west trade.
HMM described the alleged merger as “a groundless rumour”.
It also suggested in a statement that it thought joining THE Alliance was only a “matter of time”. This despite the publication’s report quoting an “anonymous South Korean government official” saying that there was only enough room in THE Alliance for one Korean line.
The VSA’s founder members are: Hanjin, Hapag-Lloyd, MOL, NYK, K Line and Yang Ming.
