Recently, the Hyundai Merchant
Marine Co. (HMM), one of
Korea's Mari time companies,
decided to enter the cruise ship
business, the first in the nation,
beginning in July 1997 (Hyundai
Merchant Marine, 1996). HMM
announced that it will develop the
cruise ship business with
Carnival Cruise Lines of US. The
two companies established a joint
venture with a total investment
of $20 million. The joint venture
will put "Tropical", a 40,000-ton
cruise vessel, on its first voyage
at about March 1998. "Tropical"
will tour Asian countries, leaving
from Inchon.