H?egh Autoliners orders car carriers from Vietnam

H÷egh Autoliners orders car carriers from Vietnam Norway's H'egh Autoliners has entered a long-term strategic cooperation with state-owned Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corp. (Vinashin), including the construction of four large Pure Car Truck Carriers (PCTC) with further options.
   Vinashin will build the vessels with specifications developed by H'egh and DeltaMarin, each with a deck capacity of 62,000 square meters, for delivery from 2009 to 2011.
   The H'egh Horizon class PCTCs will have higher cargo capacity than vessels with the same dimensions, and can carry about 7,000 car equivalent units. The design is developed to have a reduced negative effect on the environment, and includes provisions for the inclusion of new technologies such as ballast water treatment.
   'In order to be able to meet the increasing demand for carrying capacity and service scope from our target customers we are looking for alternative sources for the construction of new vessels. We have a need for four to five new car carriers per year going forward, and access to shipyard capacity is a key,' said Thor J'rgen Guttormsen, chief executive officer of H'egh.
   H'egh operates a fleet of about 55 vessels, and said it expects to transport about 1.8 million vehicles in 2006, with the main export areas for new cars in the United States, Asia and Europe.
   In November, the company added two more vessels to its series of newbuildings from Daewoo, bringing its order with the Korean shipyard to five ships and has another eight being built at yards in the Philippines, Singapore and Croatia.