COSCO parent orders eight 5,100-TEU ships from Chinese shipyard

COSCO parent orders eight 5,100-TEU ships from Chinese shipyard    China COSCO Holding Co. Ltd, parent of COSCO Container Lines, has ordered eight 5,100-TEU vessels from a Chinese shipyard for a combined $516.8 million.
   The vessels will be built by the Jiangnan Shipyard, owned by the China State Shipbuilding Corp., with delivery of the first two ships expected June 2009. The remaining vessels will be delivered two at a time between October 2009 and June 2010.
   China COSCO said it will pay for the ships in five installments with financing coming from bank loans (70 percent), listing proceeds (20 percent), and internal funds from the shipping line (10 percent).
   “China COSCO believes that the ‘China factor’ will continue to be one of the driving forces of a healthy and stable global container shipping market; providing tremendous growth opportunities for carriers like China COSCO which enjoys the advantage of a vast China market,” China COSCO said in a statement.
   “The purchase and deployment of the vessels will help the group meet the demand of the containers shipping market, help increase the market share, optimize the fleet structure and satisfy the continuous development of the group.”