OOCL ups Samsung SX tally

Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has increased its tally of 8,063-teu SX class containerships at Samsung Heavy Industries to twelve with orders for a sixth pair of ships.

The Hong Kong owner is paying a combined price of $161m for the eleventh and twelfth ship in the series. Deliveries are scheduled for the first and second quarters of 2007.

OOCL is paying just over 10% more for these latest vessels compared to the $73m per ship it paid for the last pair that were ordered in July 2003. The company says it is currently arranging finance for the latest newbuildings. It expects that this will cover some 80% of the newbuilding costs. The remaining 20% will come from internal resources.

The contract price of each vessel is payable in four instalments, OOCL said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock exchange. The first two in the series - the OOCL Shenzen and OOCL Long Beach - were delivered in April and June 2003 respectively.

The third, fourth, fifth and sixth ships in this series are due for delivery between February and June next year. Ships number seven and eight are slated for handover in the second quarter of 2005. Numbers nine and ten will be delivered in May and July 2006.

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