[Apha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] The marine industry has expressed its position that overseas sales of HMM should not take place.

The Korea Federation of Maritime Industries and the Busan Port Development Council made the remarks in a statement on the 23rd.

Regarding the participation of Germany's Hapakroid, the world's fifth-largest shipping company, in the HMM's preliminary bid, the two organizations claimed, "If the HMM is sold to Hapakroid, there are concerns over the outflow of state assets that cannot be converted into information assets such as Korea's container transportation assets, terminals and shipping logistics know-how accumulated for decades."

He then stressed the importance of the shipping industry, which is responsible for 99.7% of Korea's import and export volume, and stressed, "When selling HMM overseas, we will have to rely on overseas shipping companies and cause serious security concerns in case of a national emergency."

"HMM is an indispensable key asset in exports," he said, citing a case in which HMM injected additional uniforms for domestic exporters amid the global logistics crisis caused by COVID-19 in 2021.

Earlier on the 21st, a preliminary bid was closed for the sale of management rights of HMM, the nation's largest container shipping company. It was reported that a consortium of Germany's Hapakroid, LX International, Dongwon Industrial, and Harim-JK Partners participated in the acquisition.

 

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