SOUTH Korea's leading shipping company, Hyundai Merchant Marine Co (HMM), has signed letters of intent (LOIs) with the country's three major shipbuilders to build 20 container carriers by mid-2021. At its headquarters in Seoul, HMM signed an LOI with Hyundai Heavy Industries Co, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co and Samsung Heavy Industries Co to place three separate orders to build twelve 23,000 TEU and eight 14,000 TEU container carriers, the company said in a statement. Under three separate LOIs, Hyundai Heavy is expected to build eight 14,000 TEU container ships by the second quarter of 2021, with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Samsung Heavy scheduled to build seven 23,000 TEU container ships and five 23,000 TEU container ships, respectively, by the second quarter of 2020, it said. Hyundai Merchant plans to sign a contract with the three shipbuilders after discussing further details on the building process, the statement said, reported Yonhap News Agency. The three Korean shipbuilders are the world's three biggest shipyards by orders. The companies have streamlined their businesses by selling non-core assets and reducing workforce as the 2008 financial crisis resulted in oversupply and declining orders.