OOCL Orders Three Containerships

Canada Maritime and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) have contracted Daewoo Shipbuilding and Heavy Machinery to build three containerships. The orders are the first in seven years by the two companies, which are long-term partners in the St Lawrence Co-ordinated Service (SLCS), said OOCL, a wholly-owned unit of Orient Overseas (International) Holdings Ltd. The financial terms of order were not available. The three ice-strengthened, winterized containerships are each 294 m long and 32.2 m wide, with a draft of 10.78 meters. They will be deployed in trade between North Europe and North America, via Montreal. "With a loading capacity of 3,500 teu, the ships will be larger than those previously deployed on the St. Lawrence River. This will enable the carriers to meet an anticipated growth in trade over the next decade," OOCL said. Nominal capacity will be 4,100 teu, it added. OOCL will own one of the ships, while Canada Maritime will own the other two. The ships will be delivered in 2003. - (Reuters)