Orient Overseas Container Line Limited (OOCL) has ordered five 23,000 TEU container vessels at the COSCO Shipping yards in China, each at a cost of US$155 million.

The Hong Kong-based container shipping and logistics service company said it signed newbuilding contracts with shipyards Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. (NACKS) and Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co. Ltd. (DACKS), and expects to begin taking delivery of these vessels in the year 2023.

"These five new buildings are part of our ongoing program to introduce large, modern, and fuel-efficient vessels to further strengthen our fleet competitiveness as well as fleet rebalancing by increasing the proportion of the ships we own in the core fleet while a number of vessels leased under long-term charters will be returned to the owners," OOCL said in a statement.

OOCL currently has six G-Class mega-vessels, each with a capacity of approximately 21000 TEUs. These vessels were ordered in March 2015, as the first step in OOCL’s expansion into this class of mega vessels for the Asia-Europe trade.

The shipping firm noted that the original plan at that time was to have ordered a second batch of five to six mega vessels.  However, this addition to the original order has never happened thus far, first because of the terrible market conditions of 2016, and then throughout 2017-2018 with the focus being on the execution of the sale of the OOIL group to COSCO SHIPPING Holdings.

"The announcement for this new order for 23,000 TEU vessels is indeed this long-awaited second step and is consistent with our strategic plan for further growth," OCCL said.

The five new container vessels, OOCL said will have the potential to independently form a complete loop in the Asia-Europe trade — where it is intended to be deployed in order to strengthen OOCL’s overall competitive position in the market and improve services to customers. 

Balancing this expansion, the company said over the next five years we plan to return or dispose of 13 vessels from our fleet, a total of around 76,000 TEU, after successful long-term service in our group.

Lesser carbon emissions

OOCL said the latest engine technology and other state-of-the-art equipment that will be used in the new vessels will help achieve greater operational efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, which is consistently in line with our work and commitment to corporate sustainability and environmental protection.

"As we look forward into the long-term future, and notwithstanding the current turbulence in the market, today’s investment in these long-term assets supports our strong belief in the Asia-Europe trade as one of the world’s major corridors of commerce for decades to come," it added.