TAIWAN'S Evergreen Marine Corp (EMC) is negotiating with shipbuilders in Japan and Taiwan to order 10 more 1,100-teu class feeder vessels.
Company officials said it was possible the order would go to Japan's Hayashikane, which was awarded a similar order from EMC earlier this year.
Seven of the new vessels would go into the fleet of affiliate, Uniglory Marine Corp, which operates an extensive feeder network in Asia.
Taiwanese sources said the Japanese yard was likely to sub-contract some of the work to Taiwan's China Shipbuilding Corp because of the rising yen.
Evergreen officials said the new orders would be placed soon and all vessels would be built within two years.
The Evergreen Group is one of the world's largest container ship operators.