OOCL is planning to place an order "soon" for a number of big new container ships that will probably be in the ranges of ships capable of carrying 13,000 20-foot equivalent units.
OOCL has fallen to the middle of the pack of top container lines and wants to build its capacity up again, said CC Tung, chairman and CEO of OOIL, parent of the Hong-Kong-based container carrier.
The carrier delayed placing new orders before now because it was waiting to see if it could merge with or acquire another carrier during the Great Recession, Tung said.
To his surprise no possibilities of finding a merger emerged during the recession, and he does not expect any to emerge at this point.
With bunker fuel prices rising over $600 a metric ton, OOCL plans to place an order for big ships "soon" in order to reduce its slot costs..
"Bunker costs accounted for 25 percent of OOCL's operating costs in 2010," he said.
"The period for consolidation is over," he said.
The Journal of Commerce Online
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