In a joint statement the Federation of Korea Maritime Industries (FKMI), the federation that represents the cluster South Korean seafarer, and the Port Development Council of Busan, an association whose objective is to contribute to the economic and social progress of the community of Busan, have expressed their opposition to the ownership of the Seoul container shipping company HMM can be transferred to foreign companies.

The fear is that about 40% of HMM's capital could be sold to the German Hapag-Lloyd which submitted a tender as part of the preliminary tender phase for the sale of shares of the Seoul-based company held by the Korea Development Bank and Korea Ocean Business Corporation ( of 17 and 21 August 2023).

"If HMM were sold to the German Hapag-Lloyd - they have explained the two organizations - concerns would arise for the sorts of national resources that cannot be converted into value, such as information on containerized transport and Korea's terminals, including decades of know-how in the shipping and logistics'. In the FKMI declaration and the Council expressed doubts about the fact that 'HMM, including foreign shipping companies in the list of candidates for the is aware of the importance of maritime transport'.

Highlighting that HMM is a fundamental resource indispensable for Korea, the two organizations recalled that "in 2021 HMM had supplied additional ships to our exporting companies that were struggling to find a vessel in order to load export goods in a situation where foreign shipping companies were avoiding make a stopover at the port of Busan due to difficulties global logistics caused by the Covid-19 crisis".

The refusal of FKMI and the Council for the Development of the Port of Busan to the possible transfer of a part of the property of HMM to Hapag-Lloyd is resolute: 'on behalf of five millions of households in the maritime sector - have urged in the Statement - We urge you to stop the sale abroad of the HMM in order to ensure a stable supply chain for imports and exports of Korea'.