OOCL boosts 1st quarter rates, revenues

OOCL boosts 1st quarter rates, revenues    Orient Overseas Container Line boosted its worldwide revenue 24 percent to $935 million in the first quarter from $753 million a year earlier, as freight rates and volumes continued to rise.
   The Hong Kong-based carrier saw its revenue from intra-Asia and Australian services jump 41 percent to $241 million in the latest quarter, while its revenues from both the transpacific and transatlantic trades rose 21 percent to $404 million and $111 million, respectively.
   The carrier’s average revenue per TEU in the two-way transpacific trade rose 4 percent to $1,524 in the first quarter, from $1,467 a year earlier.
   Confirming industry reports that rates are also increasing on the transatlantic route, OOCL said its revenue per TEU in the two-way Atlantic trade averaged $1,369 in the first quarter, 8 percent more than $1,268 for the same quarter of 2004.
   OOCL said its overall load factor remained largely unchanged in the first quarter, despite the addition of 14 percent in ship capacity.