Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., the world's second-largest shipyard, said Thursday that it has won a US$500 million order to build five container ships for a German shipping company.

The deal calls for Daewoo Shipbuilding to deliver the ships, which can hold 4,700 20-foot standard containers, to Hamburg Sud, one of the largest ship lines, by 2010, the company said.

The vessels will be built at Daewoo Shipping's yard in Romania, it said.