OOCL plans to order megaships

HONG KONG-based OOCL intends to purchase very large-sized containerships with capacity between 8,000 TEU and 13,000 TEU, reported Hong Kong`s South China Morning Post.

The 13,000-TEU megaships can only be deployed on Asia-Europe loops because US ports are not able to handle such super-sized ships, and ships with capacities of such size are also too large for intra-Asia trade, said Newark`s Journal of Commerce.


"We have not made any decisions on placing orders for these vessels yet. We have a team of experts who are constantly exploring opportunities and regularly meet shipyards and other vendors to review new technologies, discuss industry issues, as well as explore possible new buildings," said OOCL`s director of corporate planning Stephen Ng.


OOCL ordered six 8,888-TEU vessels from Shanghai`s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in 2007, which are scheduled to be delivered between 2011 and 2013.


The largest vessels currently deployed by OOCL are sixteen 8,063-TEU containerships delivered from South Korea`s Samsung Heavy Industries.