OOCL ORDERS TWO 7,400-TEU SHIPS, CHRISTENS NEW 5,500-TEU VESSEL

OOCL ORDERS TWO 7,400-TEU SHIPS, CHRISTENS NEW 5,500-TEU VESSEL    Orient Overseas Container Line has ordered another two containerships of 7,400-TEU capacity from the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Korea.
   The vessels, reported to each cost $80 million, are scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2004.
   The ships are the latest in a series of orders for very large post-Panamax containerships placed by OOCL and other carriers of the Grand Alliance.
   In a separate announcement, OOCL said that it has christened the latest ship in its current series of 5,500-TEU vessels, the “OOCL France.”
   The “OOCL France,” currently deployed in the China/Europe Express service of the Grand Alliance between Asia and Europe, was ordered by the carrier under a long-term charter agreement with Hamburg-based non-operating owner Nordcapital GmbH.