Lego’s “Maersk Dual Fuel Container Vessel” model. / Lego website
Heavy industry companies, long synonymous with the rugged, hard-edged world of B2B (business-to-business) transactions, are shedding their austere image and moving closer to consumers’ daily lives. Large vessels and construction equipment, once the domain of specialists, are being reborn as children’s toys and stylish merchandise, narrowing the distance with consumers.
According to industry sources on Thursday, the “Ane Maersk,” a methanol-powered ultra-large container ship that HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (329180.KS) built and delivered as the world’s first in 2024, has recently been released as a LEGO product. The LEGO Group is selling the “Maersk Dual Fuel Container Vessel” set, composed of 1,516 pieces, as a limited edition through its official online store and retail outlets starting in March. The Ane Maersk, which measures 351 meters in length and 65 meters in height including containers, shrinks to 60 centimeters long and 18 centimeters tall when assembled as a LEGO model — roughly 1/500 the size of the actual vessel.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Ane Maersk, the world’s first methanol-powered ultra-large container ship, built in 2024 and delivered to Denmark’s Maersk. / HD Hyundai Heavy Industries
Despite the reduced scale, the meticulous attention to detail stands out. Key structures have been faithfully reproduced, including the bridge’s opening and closing mechanism, crew living quarters, the engine room visible through transparent windows, folding gangways, and densely stacked containers.
Jung Ho-hyung, a principal engineer at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries who participated in the actual ship’s design, praised the fact that the vessel’s eight-cylinder engine is rendered with all eight cylinders intact in block form, as well as the realism of the “lashing bridges” that prevent containers from falling off. The model’s sole moving part — the antenna folding motion that occurs when the ship passes under bridges — has also been well received. HD Hyundai released an unboxing and assembly video of the LEGO set on YouTube, and Chairman Chung Ki-sun personally shared the video, expressing his interest.
Virtual merchandise including a hard-hat earphone case and acupressure slippers posted by Hyundai Engineering on its social media. / Hyundai Engineering
Attempts by heavy industry companies to broaden consumer touchpoints are taking place in various forms. HD Hyundai Construction Equipment (267270.KS) is targeting family visitors at major exhibitions such as mobility shows by producing heavy equipment as miniature toys. Hyundai Engineering recently unveiled a “virtual merchandise plan” on its official Instagram, drawing an enthusiastic response from young users. When images were released of “concrete chocolates” with a cement-like texture, “earphone cases” shaped like safety helmets, a “coffee construction kit” combining a miniature shovel and cup, and socks embossed with blueprint patterns, comments requesting the actual release of specific products poured in.
This trend is also a strategy that major overseas companies in the sector have benefited from. Caterpillar, the world’s largest construction equipment maker, has consistently released licensed products including toys, clothing, and shoes since the 1950s. It currently operates 86,000 merchandise retail outlets worldwide, with earnings from the business reaching $3.01 billion in 2024.
“Caterpillar is the textbook example of a strategy that makes a brand encountered through childhood toys trustworthy in adulthood, and ensures that equipment used since the grandfather’s generation continues to be used by both the father and the son,” an industry official said. The familiarity built from childhood ultimately translates into brand choice when consumers become future purchasing decision-makers.