Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) is planning to launch the world’s largest container ship in April 2020 as part of a new fleet of mega-vessels, according to national media.

The Korean carrier is reportedly preparing to launch 12 24,000 TEU vessels from the Port of Busan, South Korea, in which it has a 50% stake.

The vessels will become the largest on the world’s oceans, breaking the record held by the MSC Gulsun, which launched in 2019.

They are currently under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

The launch date of April 2020 will coincide with HMM officially taking up at its place in ‘THE Alliance’ one of the three major shipping alliances in the world, which also counts Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Yang Ming among its members.

The launch of the new vessels will be a major part of HMM’s plans for 2020 and were mentioned in its president Jae-hoon Bae’s New Year address, which Port Technology International (PTI) reported on.