KOREA's Samra Midas Group (SM Group) plans to secure 21 ships, 11 in the 6,500 TEU range and 10 of 4,000 TEU in a bid to take over bankrupt Hanjin Shipping's transpacific operation and displace Iran's IRISL as the world's 20th container carrier.
This fleet buildup would give SM Group 110,000 slots handling displacing IRISL, according to the latest statistics from Alphaliner, reports Singapore's Splash 24/7.
SM is expected to close the deal to take over Hanjin's transpacific operations within the next 10 days while it is already in discussions to join the new Korean intra-Asia consortium just announced by Sinokor, Heung-A and Hyundai Merchant Marine.
SM Group is best known in the construction sector, although in 2013 it bought financially struggling Korea Line Corp. Last year it came close to buying out Korean yard SPP Shipbuilding, but the deal fell through in November.
