There have recently been a number of newbuild deliveries, with Japanese transportation and logistics group MOL welcoming the 5,014-TEU MOL Experience into the fleet.

The newbuild is the second in a series of four panamaxes of this size that were ordered from South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries in October 2004.

The MOL Experience will be deployed on the shipping line's new Asia-US east coast service via the Suez Canal, called SZX. This service commenced in June and is operated by the New World Alliance partners of APL, MOL and HMM, with CMA CGM and Evergreen as slot takers.

HMM has also taken delivery of the Hyundai Grace, a 4,728-TEU container ship that is the third in a series of eight identical ships that are being built by HMM. The order was placed in two stages, with five ships ordered in August 2004.

All eight ships are scheduled for delivery between now and June 2008.

The Hyundai Grace has been deployed on the recently launched FEUSEC 'ESX' service.

In a related development, German ship owner Klaus Oldendorff will receive the 3,586-TEU Nordsummer. This vessel is the second of four ships ordered in March-August 2004 from another South Korean shipbuilder, STX Shipyard, reports AFX Alphaliner.