Korea's Hyundai Merchant Marine announced, last Tuesday, a broadscale fleet expansion plan for the first time in many years, declaring it will roll out a very aggressive management this year.

The shipowner said it will invest KRW 485.9bn ($430m) in securing additional 28 ships including four own ships and 24 chartered ships.

The scale of the investment is a 88% increase on KRW 258.7bn from last year, which reflects the shipowner will attend to its business, shipping.

In particular, a large-scale cash pile the shipowner stocked up to take over Hyundai Engineering & Construction last year will probably be a catalyst to foster the company's shipping business.

With the newest plan, the shipowner will see its fleet increase from 164 ships to 192 ships including 69 containerships and 123 bulkers.