Economic downturn forces OOCL to again delay delivery of two 8,888-TEUers

HONG KONG' s Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has pushed back for the third time the delivery of the last two 8,888-TEU vessels being built by Hudong-Zhonghua, which were part of a six ship order contracted in October and November 2007 for US$120.7 million each. The box ships were originally scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The delivery of the vessels was postponed twice previously, in August 2009 by 18 months, and in December 2010 to the fourth quarter of 2013 as a result of the financial crisis. The delivery dates of the two ships have now been further postponed by 12 more months and OOCL now plans to receive the two vessels in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to Alphaliner.

The first two ships in the series, the OOCL Being and the OOCL Canada, were delivered in April 2011 and July 2011 respectively.

The delivery dates of two more vessels in the series have not been changed and are still due to be delivered in the first quarter of 2013.

The company had also entered a separate shipbuilding contract with Hudong-Zhonghua in December 2010 for two more units in the same series. The two units are expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2014, the report said.