Cosco orders 8 boxships

China Cosco Holdings Co, owner of China’s second-largest container shipping line, has placed a $516.8 million order for eight new 5,100 teu container carriers. The shipbuilder is Jiangnan Shipyard, a unit of China State Shipbuilding Corp, and the first two would be delivered in June 2009 and the remaining six would be delivered in pairs in October 2009, February 2010 and June 2010.

China Cosco said it will fund 80% of the purchase with bank loans, with the remainder coming from internal resources including funds raised from its 2005 stock sale.