Cargo Business Newswire

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Hapag-Lloyd orders five 10,500-TEU ships

Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd has placed an order for five vessels to boost its trade in Latin America in anticipation of the opening of the expanded Panama Canal on April 1, 2016, the company announced Monday.

Hapag-Lloyd, which completed a merger with Chile's CSAV in December, said it had placed an order for five 10,500 TEU ships, expected for delivery between October 2016 and May 2017.

"They will be deployed primarily on South American routes. When the expanded Panama Canal opens next year, Hapag-Lloyd will therefore have the optimal fleet for this trade," the statement said.

Hapag-Lloyd said since its merger, Latin America

represented more than a third of its total transport volumes versus around 22 percent previously - with the group among the top four lines in the region.

The new order adds to a previous one made by CSAV in 2013 for seven 9,300 TEU ships to be used in the Latin America trade - with five of those already delivered and the remaining two to be delivered later this year, Hapag-Lloyd said, adding it had other vessels operating on this route.

As of December 2014, Hapag-Lloyd's global fleet comprised a total of 191 container ships.

For more of the Reuters story: www.reuters.com