APL Finalizes Ship Charter Deal

APL, the container transportation arm of Neptune Orient Lines, has signed a charter agreement for five new post-Panamax container vessels. The ships will each have a nominal capacity of 7,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) and will be deployed in the Transpacific trade from 2009. The vessels are being built at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea and will be chartered for five years from German owners, Bernhard Schulte.