OOIL GROUP SEES PROMISE FOR SECOND HALF. DESPITE LOSS

   Orient Overseas (International) Ltd., owner of container line OOCL,
reported an after-tax loss of $1.3 million for the first half of 1998,
compared to a loss of $14.6 million for the year-earlier period.
   C.C. Tung, OOIL chairman and chief executive officer, said the results showed an improvement in performance and optimism for a better second-half.
   Tung pointed to increased freight rates and liftings in the
transpacific, Asia/Europe and intra-Asian trades, as well as improved
revenue per TEU in all trades except the North Atlantic and Australasia.
   OOIL’s revenues were up 11 percent in the first half of 1999, to $969.3 million, while liftings rose 17 percent.
   There continued to be an imbalance, with strong volumes from Asia to
Europe and North America, return voyages to Europe and North America remaining weak, Tung said.
   However, "with the coming seasonal upswing, the continued strength in the U.S. economy, the improving European economy and signs of the Asian recovery, we remain hopeful for a positive tone in the industry during the second half of the year," he said.