NYK orders 10 vessels, plans 650-ship fleet by 2007

NYK orders 10 vessels, plans 650-ship fleet by 2007    Japanese ocean carrier Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line said Wednesday it will place orders for eight 8,100-TEU containerships and two 175,000-ton bulk carriers with shipbuilders in Japan, South Korea and China.
   Hyundai Heavy Industry, in South Korea, and IHI Marine United, in Japan will each build four of the new containerships. The two bulk carriers will be built by Shanghai Waigaoquiao Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., in Shanghai.
   NYK Line also said it has developed a five-year fleet expansion plan for fiscal years 2003 through 2007. The Tokyo-based carrier has scheduled 160 newbuildings in that period at a total cost of 770 billion yen ($7.2 billion).
   By fiscal year 2007, NYK Line will have enlarged its fleet from about 540 vessels to approximately 650 ships. The expansion plan calls for disposing superannuated vessels and returning chartered ships.
   The eight new containerships “will be successively assigned to the services of the Grand Alliance to play a major role in the consortium’s core fleet,” NYK Line said in a statement.
   The Grand Alliance consortium includes NYK, OOCL, Hapag-Lloyd A.G., Malaysia International Shipping Corp., Berhad (MISC), and P&O Nedlloyd Container Line.