Hanjin to order boxship quartet

Hanjin Shipping will, this Friday, sign a $256.4 million contract with Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) to build four additional 4,275TEU containerships. They will be of the same capacity and type as the four 39,600 dwt vessels previously ordered last November and start to be deployed on the major service lanes at the end of 2008 through the second quarter of 2009.

The order is part of Hanjin Shipping’s efforts to add more owned vessels that will replace chartered ones in its small- and medium-sized fleet in the long run. With a 36,502kW MAN B&W main engine these vessels will achieve a maximum service speed of 24.5 knots.