| OOIL orders six 21,100 teu box ships |
| Orient Overseas (International) (OOIL), the parent company of Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), has placed a new order for six 21,100 teu container ships at Samsung Heavy Industries for USD951.6 million. OOIL is currently arranging a bank loan to fund 70% of the costs of the newbuildings, with the remainder funded by its internal resources, a stock filing of the company said on 1 April. The contract price of each vessel is payable in cash in five equal instalments. The vessels are expected to be delivered in 2017, OOIL added. The new order is the first addition of new vessels for the company since 2014. In 2014, OOCL took delivery of two ‘Mega’ class 13,208 teu new vessels. It will also take delivery of four 8,888 teu vessels from Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in 2015. As part of the re-fleeting plan, one 9-year old and two 11-year old 8,063 teu SX Class vessels were sold and chartered back for a three-year period in 2015. “It is expected that trade growth in 2015 will outperform that of 2014, and bunker cost savings for the industry will become more apparent in 2015,” OOCL said in its annual financial result statement. “Notwithstanding the larger orderbook for delivery in the year 2015, we anticipate gradually improving industry dynamics and margin,” it added. |