South Korea’s container carrier SM Line Corporation and China’s Cosco Shipping Lines Co. have agreed to forge cooperation, restoring ties between the world’s third largest shipper and Korean industry that were cut following the collapse of Hanjin Shipping.

SM Line announced on Tuesday that its chief executive Kim Chil-bong visited the headquarters of Cosco in Shanghai last week to discuss ways to step up partnership between the two companies. The visit was part of SM Line’s efforts to recover Cosco’s past partnership with now-defunct Hanjin Shipping, according to an official from the company. SM Line was founded in March last year by Samra Midas Group who bought assets of once the country’s biggest container shipper Hanjin Shipping.

During the visit, Kim met with Cosco’s container line president Wang Haimin and Cosco Group’s executive vice president Huang Xiaowen and agreed with them to conduct a working-level negotiation on joint operation in Asia with an aim to enhance partnership gradually. They also pledged to expand cooperation into the Americas and deep-sea routes in the mid and long term.

In the first-stage cooperation in Asia, SM Line is expected to handle cargoes of 400,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) and Cosco 5.7 million TEU. The Korean container carrier expects the partnership would also boost its operation of the Indian route.

Cosco has grown into the world’s third largest shipper by acquiring China Shipping in 2016 and Hong Kong’s OOCL in 2017. It was a member of the CKYHE Alliance with Hanjin Shipping, but cut ties with Korean firms following Hanjin Shipping’s collapse.

By Moon Ji-woong and Choi Mira

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