NOL/APL TO TAKE TWO NEW 5,500-TEU SHIPS ON CHARTER

   APL, the shipping and logistics arm of Neptune Orient Lines, said that it will take two new 5,500-TEU containerships on charter mid-2001.
    The new vessels will be chartered from Greece-based Danaos Shipping Co., which will have them built at the Korean shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries.
    APL will charter the ships for at least five years and will deploy them in its Asia/Europe liner service as part of the New World Alliance.
    The two new vessels will bring APL’s total operated ship capacity to about 215,000 TEUs.
    NOL said that it is chartering rather than purchasing the ships "in line with NOL’s strategy of evaluating each asset opportunity on its merit."
At present, the largest vessels in the APL fleet have a capacity of about 5,000 TEUs.