Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. (HMM) President Lee Suk-hui received the coveted Order of Industrial Merit Service, Gold Tower, for his contributions to the development of the domestic maritime industry since 1974. 

Lee has been credited with leading roles in helping the Korean maritime industry post quantitative and qualitative growth while working in the field for almost four decades. He has been working with Korean shipping companies, including Cho Yang Shipping, Dongnama Shipping Co, and HMM since he began his career in the domestic maritime industry. In particular, Lee he has been acclaimed for his role in expanding HMM’s shipping fleet, securing its own domestic and overseas terminals, making inroads into the logistics business sector, improving the quality of container services, and introducing the Process Innovation/Smart Working system while serving as the executive vice president and president of HMM’s container business division, growing HMM into one of the world’s largest global shipping companies.  

He has been praised for his leading role in overcoming the unprecedented crisis that hit the Korean maritime industry in 2011 and bringing together six container shipping lines to form the New G6 Alliance while serving as HMM president, thus contributing to the stabilization of the global maritime market and enhancing the industry’s global standing. The combination of the New World Alliance (TNWA) and the Grand Alliance (GA) has resulted in the New G6 Alliance, which has led to the stabilization of the volatile global shipping market, which suffered from a decline of freight volumes caused by the global economic slump and a glut of ships, by expanding the network with major global shipping players and strengthening cooperation among them. 

HMM'S FOOTHOLD IN CHINA

HMM has established a distribution joint venture in Qingdao with the Shandong Province Communication and Transportation Group, a state-run corporation under China’s State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). The joint venture in which HMM takes a 50 percent stake is developing an off-dock container yard (ODCY) capable of 310,000 TEUs of containers per year on a 59,740 square-meter site. HMM will develop an inland logistics and third-party logistics (3PL) business in the Chinese market with the Chinese company, capitalizing on the former’s extensive experiences in shipping and the latter’s strength in overland transport and paving the way for HMM’s establishment of a foothold in the Chinese integrated logistics market. 

GREEN GROWTH 

HMM has been lauded for its contribution to building a foundation for green growth. The company has carried out state-initiated green technology tasks including the establishment of the testing, certification, and standard (TCS) system for green ships and the development of a full lifecycle ship management system. HMM became the first Korean shipping company to obtain the Green Management System (GMS) certification from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. It has also won green growth awards, including the Carbon Management Industry Leader Prize in the industrial goods category from the Carbon Disclosure Project Korea. HMM has spearheaded efforts to build a foundation for low-carbon, green growth and has posted qualitative growth by ramping up its global standing as one of the major global shipping companies. 

RELIABLE SHIPPING COMPANY

HMM is committed to its contributions to society by engaging in such volunteering activities as offering free meals to homeless people and the Habitat for Humanity campaign for building houses of love for low-income families. The company has also participated in global volunteering activities, including a drive to collect donated goods to send to Tanzania and a campaign for delivering relief goods to the victims of the March 11, 2011 Japan earthquake.

2012 GOALS 

HMM President Lee said in his speech at a ceremony to launch the 2012 business year, “Let’s overcome the recession in the maritime industry together by enhancing competitiveness in service and marketing.” Lee also emphasized the reference made by Chairperson Hyun Jeong-Eun in her New Year’s speech about becoming a “Corporate Dragon” that can soar above all difficulties to attain success. 

At the meeting, HMM announced its plan to deliver 3.2 million TEUs in 2012, an 8 percent increase over the 2.97 million TEUs delivered in 2011. In the container sector, HMM will focus on expanding global sales networks and developing new routes as part of G6, the world’s largest shipping alliance launched in December 2011. HMM also plans to deploy five new vessels on the Asia-Europe route as well as launch new routes, such as into the Black Sea region. In the non-container sector, HMM will place top priority in establishing stable profitability by maintaining existing long-term contracts and by expanding into new contracts. #