South Korea’s sea flag carrier HMM Co., formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine, has snapped a five-year losing streak in the second quarter thanks to the launch of a large container ship through The Alliance shipping network and a rise in freight rates under the COVID-19 crisis.

Hwang Ho-seon, president of state agency Korea Ocean Business Corp., suggested the country’s main carrier would have returned to black figures in the second quarter income statement during a parliamentary questioning on Wednesday.

The shipper benefited from joining The Alliance network, which it entered in April. The alliance membership has allowed the Korean shipper to have broader coverage. Also, its cargo handling capacity has grown sharply with the launch of a 24,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) container carrier.

Freight rates have also risen to help its bottom line. Shipping companies have hiked global shipping charges to offset the decline in worldwide shipping volume due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index, widely cited metric on market freight quotations, reached 1,022 on July 24, soaring 18 percent from March.

By Choi Keun-do and Cho Jeehyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]