The Hong Kong shipping company Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) is massively expanding its fleet: 14 ships are being built in China at a cost of $220 million each.
The container ships will have a capacity of 18,500 TEU and will be delivered in 2028 and 2029.
The company, which is controlled by the Chinese state shipping company Cosco, announced that the contracts have been awarded to the Dalian Cosco KHI Ship Engineering (DACKS) and Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering (NACKS) shipyards. Nine ships will be built in Dalian and the remaining five in Nantong. The newbuildings are to be equipped with dual-fuel propulsion systems. With a value of $220 million per ship, this results in a total value of $3.08 billion.
“This investment is in line with our long-term strategy to steadily increase fleet capacity and achieve balanced growth,” the company announced.
Order for OOCL further expands Cosco’s order book
The orders increase Cosco’s order book to 33 vessels with 611,000 TEU (from previously 19 vessels and 352,000 TEU), according to the industry service Alphaliner. The order book for the entire Cosco Group now stands at 64 ships and 1.11 million TEU – only MSC (2.13 million TEU) and CMA CGM (1.55 million TEU) have ordered more newbuildings.
OOCL was able to significantly increase its turnover last year. High freight rates and a strong transpacific business ensured growth of over 30% to almost USD 10 billion. (JW)
