South Korean flagship carrier HMM has laid out a massive spending plan through to 2026 that will see its box fleet grow by nearly 50%， while its bulk fleet will just about double in size.

The KRW15trn ($11.45bn) outlay over the coming four years， detailed today， will grow HMM’s boxship fleet from today’s 820，000 slots to 1.2m， while its bulk fleet is set to grow from 29 vessels to 55. Other acquisitions will include terminals and logistics facilities throughout the upcoming five years from 2022 to 2026.

Kyung Bae Kim， HMM president and CEO， said: “Our strategy is to ensure perpetual growth of HMM under the new vision – a global leading company generating sustainable value for the world.”

Having skirted with bankruptcy six years ago， HMM has become cash rich like all global liners during container shipping’s epic bull run through the pandemic. Its most recently published results from Q1 set a new record for the 45-year-old company with a $2.4bn net profit.