Taiwan's container shipping line, Evergreen Marine Corp, has unveiled plans to charter seven new 14,000-TEU vessels to upgrade its fleet and lower unit costs.
The upgrade plan is not expected to have a significant impact on the ocean liner's shipping capacity, as the company aims to gradually retire some of its old and smaller vessels with lower operating efficiency.
Owned by Sumitomo Corp, an integrated trading company in Japan, the seven containerships are due for delivery in 2016 and 2017 on a 10-year charter period, reports the Taipei Times.
"The decision fits into the company's fleet replacement plan," said Evergreen Marine in an announcement on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The company announced last year it will charter ten 13,800 TEU ships built by Hyundai Heavy Industries from Greek shipowner Enesel SA.
The carrier has taken delivery of two of the ten vessels since September 2013, with the remaining eight to be delivered in the second half of the year.
However, Evergreen Marine said the plan would not raise capacity in the container shipping sector significantly, as the shipping line intends to replace some of its smaller vessels during the period by eliminating its self-owned ships or not extending the leasing contract of its chartered vessels.
In the first three quarters of last year, Evergreen Marine posted a net loss of TWD2.19 billion (US$72.91 million).
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